Election Rules and Arrangements
Following a 2005 change in the Electoral Act, this was the first presidential election in which the winner must receive a majority of the vote, with a second round if necessary within 21 days, contrary to the first-past-the-post system previously in place. This could be interpreted as meaning 21 days after the announcement of results, rather than 21 days after the first round is held.
There were about 5.9 million registered voters and about 11,000 polling stations, compared to about 4,000 polling stations in the 2005 parliamentary election. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network said that there were insufficient polling stations in urban areas, where the opposition is considered stronger, while the availability of polling stations was better in rural areas, where ZANU-PF is considered stronger. According to the Electoral Commission, it planned to deploy 107,690 polling officers to oversee voting.
The Public Holidays and Prohibition of Business Notice 2008, published on 17 March, declared 29 March to be a public holiday. This was accompanied by the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Amendment of Electoral Act) (No. 2) Regulations, 2008, which allows police to enter polling stations. This ended a previous law, put in place in 2007 as a result of talks between ZANU-PF and the MDC, that required police to stay 100 meters away from polling stations. The regulations amended Sections 59 and 60 of the Electoral Act, providing for electoral officers and police officers to assist illiterate voters (in the case of Section 59) and physically incapacitated voters (in the case of Section 60). The change was criticised by Tsvangirai and Makoni.
Other changes agreed upon in the talks between ZANU-PF and the MDC included the posting of results outside of polling stations and the provision that, if state television aired any candidate's advertising, then it had to also air advertising from other candidates. Security laws that could be used to prevent MDC rallies were also moderated. The new rules also stipulated that presidential results may only be announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
Read more about this topic: Zimbabwean Presidential Election, 2008
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