Zimbabwe opposition MDC Alliance on Monday demanded the stopping of printing of ballots for the July 30 vote citing lack of transparency. Two state-owned firms contracted by ZEC started printing the ballots last week. The opposition party also demanded an open tender of the printing company and for the inspection of the ballot to be done in terms of the agreed procedures. It also wants stakeholder participation in the storage and distribution of the ballot paper to polling stations. Jameson Timba, the chief election agent for MDC Alliance president Nelson Chamisa, told a press conference that they were dismayed by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commissions (ZEC) continued manipulation of the election. The party has also accused ZEC of refusing to avail an accurate copy of the voters roll and allow an independent audit of the voters roll. It has claimed that the voters roll released by ZEC has various anomalies such as many entrants with the same identity numbers, many entrants with same identity numbers for different faces of people, non-existent entrants aged around 150 years and many entrants with non-existent houses. The party has also complained that along with several other opposition parties, it has not been allowed to properly observe the printing of the ballots. Despite assurances that political parties were going to be allowed to observe the printing of ballot papers; ZEC invited parties to the printers three days after the printing had already commenced. Further no observation was allowed but instead parties were just pointed, at a distance, through glasses of the purported printing process, Timba said. ZEC on Friday invited political parties to witness the printing of ballot papers to be used in the July 30 general elections to clear any suspicions of vote rigging. However, Timba said no printed ballot paper was inspected and the process still remains shrouded in secrecy. The party said ZEC should either carry out the agreed positions for transparency and accountability purposes or be reconstituted. Unless ZEC is stopped, there is no chance of a free, fair, credible and legitimate election taking place on the 30th of July 2018, Timba said. There are 23 presidential candidates that have registered for the polls. ZEC has in the past dismissed opposition claims that the voters roll is not accurate and has said it will limit participation of political parties in the printing and storage of ballots for security reasons. Xinhua
