The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is ready to carry out "the 2023 harmonized elections", following a successful voter registration in the run-up to the general elections scheduled for next week, said Priscilla Chigumba, the commission's chairperson, during an observers briefing.
The chairperson also highlighted the independence of the electoral commission, noting that it operates in accordance with the country's constitution.
"In its operations, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is not influenced by government, individuals or any other organizations as sometimes alleged. Section 235 of the constitution of Zimbabwe guarantees the commission’s independence," Chigumba explained.
Zimbabwe's presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for August 23. ZEC approved 11 presidential candidates. However, the main contenders are considered to be incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa of the governing Zanu-PF party and opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of the Citizen's Coalition for Change (CCC).
The results of the presidential elections are expected to be announced within five days of the close of voting. A candidate needs over 50% of the vote to be declared the winner. A run-off election will be held six weeks later, on 2 October, if there is no clear winner in the presidential race.
For MPs and councilors, the first-past-the-post system is used, that is, the person with the most votes wins.
This will be the second time Mnangagwa and Chamisa face off. The politicians competed in the 2018 presidential election, which the Zanu-PF leader won with 51.4% of the vote against Chamisa's 45%.
Mnangagwa led the country after long-time president Robert Mugabe was deposed in 2017, and then won elections a year later. Chamisa, a 45-year-old lawyer, heads Zimbabwe's largest opposition party, and is seen as the main face of the country's opposition.
According to a pre-election survey, the majority of Zimbabweans find the incumbent president and his ZANU-PF party the most trustworthy. The results show that those who trust Mnangagwa (50%) outnumber those who support opposition party leader Chamisa (41%).
In July, Zimbabwe's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that over 64 countries and international organizations had been invited to observe the August elections in line with the country's democratic tradition of holding free, fair and transparent elections.