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Farirai Machivenyika and Vongai Chinjeke

Fake poll rigging claims circulating on social media platforms and other media outlets are regular phenomena before elections as some parties want to blame the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for losing, ZEC said yesterday.

Zimbabwe will hold a large group of by-elections on March 26, postponed because of Covid-19, to fill vacancies in local authorities and the National Assembly most of which fell vacant because of internal opposition politics, although some are due to deaths and other more usual reasons.

Addressing a press conference yesterday, acting ZEC chief elections officer Mrs Jane Chigidji said it had become a trend for some political parties to blame ZEC for their losses at the polls. Most of the baseless allegations are being peddled by activists and organisations aligned to Citizens Coalition for Change, the party now led by Nelson Chamisa.

“Every year when we are leading to an election, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission encounters various allegations to do with the voters roll, and again, it has been observed that once that has started, false and misleading allegations have been carried into the election year as a fall back,” said Mrs Chigidji. 

“These allegations are always made through the media and no proper clarification is sought from the commission. Instead, there is always an attempt to get the commission to engage in a public wrangle with the electorate.” 

Mrs Chigidji said ZEC had established stakeholder platforms where it freely addresses all concerns.

“Therefore genuine stakeholders will not make noise in the media but do know where to take their issues,” she said. ZEC advised the electorate to obtain information on elections from official sources. 

There is also at the moment fake messages about inspecting the voters’ roll. This can be done online but voters need to use the BVR link or inspection portal on the ZEC website bvrinspection.zec.org.zw

The 111# messages circulating on social media claiming to be the USSD code for voters role inspection will not lead voters to the actual voters roll. 

“The electorate is being advised to please disregard the 111# message circulating on social media purporting to be the voters’ role inspection USSD code. The message has nothing to do with the inspection of the voters’ roll. For registration status, people can use the BVR link or inspection portal on the ZEC website which is bvrinspection.zec.org.zw,” she said.

Some opposition parties, and their social media supporters have been claiming that ZEC was planning to rig the upcoming by-elections and the 2023 harmonised elections by manipulating the voters roll. But no evidence has been given and no attempt made to challenge the roll in the courts.