The United States has called on the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) to make the disaggregated polling station results publicly available to increase confidence in the result tabulation process of the just concluded Presidential elections.
According to the statement released by the State Department Spokesman, Mathew Miller on Monday on the Election results in Zimbabwe while the United States commended those who sought to exercise their right to vote peacefully.
US noted in particular the systemic bias against political opposition during the pre-election period and reports from respected civil society groups that ZEC officials pressured election observers to sign altered polling station result forms.
It stated that although the ZEC has announced results of the country’s recent presidential election, but multiple observation missions have expressed deep concerns and stated that the country’s electoral process did not meet regional and international standards for credibility.
Cited an example, the United States said Southern African Development Community (SADC) and other international electoral observation missions noticed problems with transparency, independence, fairness, and credibility at all stages of the electoral process.
The US who strongly condemn the intimidation and disruption of lawful election observers throughout the electoral period, alleged that on August 23 the government arrested staff from respected civil society organizations engaged in lawful election observation in accordance with the Electoral Act.
Noted that these arrests prevented efforts to independently verify ZEC’s announced results, a fundamental component of democratic processes in the region and around the world.
“Furthermore, threats directed against members of the SADC Electoral Observation Mission are dangerous, and we call upon the Government of Zimbabwe to cease these inflammatory and unacceptable attacks”, US said.
It stated further that these actions belie President Mnangagwa’s repeated pledges to respect rule of law, transparency, and accountability.
The United States engaged regional leaders to share concerns, including what this means for the international community’s nascent efforts to reengage the Zimbabwean government.
“There is much at stake for the people of Zimbabwe and the region. We urge all Zimbabweans to remain peaceful and pursue grievances through established legal channels”, the United States said.
Zimbabwe’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared winner affter winning last week’s presidential election with 52.6% of the vote, the country’s electoral commission said on Saturday.
Mnangagwa, who took over from longtime leader Robert Mugabe after a 2017 army coup, was widely expected to secure re-election for a second term.
His main challenger, Nelson Chamisa, secured 44% of the presidential vote, according to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.