Voting begins in Zimbabwe

Harare (New Ziana) – Voting in Zimbabwe’s general election began on schedule at 7 o’clock in the morning on Wednesday, with mixed voter turnouts in most areas.

But in at least one constituency in the capital, Harare, voting was delayed because ballot papers for the local government segment of the poll had not been delivered yet.

The election is for president, and parliamentary and local government representatives combined.

Early reports indicated heavy voter turnouts in some areas, and low in others.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is seeking a second presidential term, was seen heading to his home constituency in central Zimbabwe early morning to cast his ballot.

Surveys have indicated he will brush off the challenge from ten other presidential candidates, and easily win the elections, seen as the country’s lest acrimonious, at least the campaign phase.

His main challenger is Nelson Chamisa of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change party, who came second to him in the last election in 2018.

Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chief elections officer, Utoile Silaigwana told New Ziana voting delays in some polling stations in Harare and the second city, Bulawayo, were caused by last minute legal challenges that had been lodged by contestants in the run-up to the poll.

This affected the printing of ballot papers.

Several local, regional and international election observers, such as the African Union, the Southern Africa Development Community and the European Union, are witnessing the poll.

In an early assessment of polling, former Mozambican President, Joachim Chissano, who is among the election observers, said voting had started off flawlessly.

He was speaking after witnessing the start of voting at one polling station in Harare.

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New Ziana