28th March 2008
From: Veritas <veritas@mango.zw>
ZEC has issued a statement outlining the procedure for counting of votes and processing of results:Ñü
· Ballot boxes will NOT be moved from polling stations to another venue for counting of votes. This applies to all four of the elections - Presidential, Senatorial, House of Assembly and Council
· Counting of votes cast at a polling station will be done at the polling station immediately after the close of the poll
· There will be separate counting for each election Ñü Council, House of Assembly, Senate and President
· The number of votes gained for each candidate in each election will be displayed outside the polling station
· The result of the counts will be entered on four different return forms which will then be taken to the Ward Collation Centre
· The postal ballot boxes will be opened and postal votes counted at Ward Collation Centres
NB All votes will be counted at polling station level except postal votes, which will be counted at ward level.
Collation of Results
Council Ñü totals from each polling station together with postal votes will be added together at the Ward Collation Centre and displayed.
House of Assembly Ñü totals from each polling station will be added together at each Ward Collation Centre and displayed, and then taken on a prescribed return form to the House of Assembly Constituency Centre where the results from all wards will be added together and displayed.
Senate Ñü totals from each polling station will be added together at each Ward Collation Centre and displayed; totals for each ward will then be collated at each House of Assembly Constituency Centre and displayed, before being taken to the Senatorial Constituency Centre for final collation and display.
President Ñü totals from each polling station will go the Ward Collation Centre for collation and display; they then will go in turn to the House of Assembly Constituency Centre and the Senatorial Constituency Collation Centre for further collation and display, before being sent to the National Collation Centre for final collation.
Declaration of Election Results
The legally effective declarations of the winning candidates will be at Ward level for Council Elections, House of Assembly Constituency level for House of Assembly Elections, Senatorial Constituency level for Senate Elections, and at the National Command Centre level for the Presidential Election.
Council Elections Ñü the Ward Collation Centre Election Officers will announce and display ward results. As wards have relatively small numbers of voters, these results should be finalised first, some at least during Saturday night.
House of Assembly Elections Ñü the results will be announced by the House of Assembly Constituency Election Officers. As votes have to be counted at the polling stations, collated at Ward Collation Centres and then again collated at the House of Assembly Constituency Collation Centre, it will obviously take longer for these results to be announced.
Senate Ñü the results will be announced by the Senatorial Constituency Elections Officers. As collation of votes from the polling stations has to be done at Ward level and the House of Assembly Constituency level first, before final collation at Senatorial Constituency level, these results are likely to be later than those for the House of Assembly.
President Ñü the result will be announced by the Chief Elections Officer from the National Collation Centre. As the collation of the returns from the polling stations has to go through four levels [Ward, House of Assembly Constituency, Senate Constituency and final collation at National level] these results will probably take longest and it may be a day or two before the result is announced.
All Council, House of Assembly and Senate results will also be sent to the National Command Centre and announced at that level. These announcements will be broadcast live on ZBC radio and television as the results come in through Saturday night and the following day(s).