EXTRACT FROM THE DEBATES…. Hon. Willias Madzimure (Kambuzuma): Looking at our elections in Zimbabwe, at one point, it took a month before results came out. Zimbabwe is a very small country and with technological advancement, these days news travel fast. Zimbabwe has less than seven million voters but our elections take time. This Bill should address the delaying of results. Results should come out within the same day. In other countries where we observe elections, you just go online and see the results as they come virtually – because of that, people prepare themselves.
In Zimbabwe, results are secretive. They go to the Command Centre and are announced later but with technological advancement, I believe Madam Speaker that results should be announced in real time as things happen from ward level when the councillor is announced as a winner. The moment that is announced, automatically people know that the President has how many votes in that ward. When the last result of our councillors in Zimbabwe is announced, the Presidential results will be known. What prohibits us from knowing the results in real-time so that we know who has won as President? When the Members of Parliament results are announced, the Presidential results would already been known. Why do we not do that if we want the results to be known? There should not be excuses like security issues because no one is above the law, the Electoral Act. #ElectionsZW
