The presidential and parliamentary election in Zimbabwe, held on Wednesday, has been extended by a day due to significant logistic delays.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced the one-day extension of voting following major delays in the opening of some polling stations. Logistic issues prevented the scheduled opening of many polling stations on time, raising concerns about the fairness and transparency of the electoral process. Less than 25% of polling stations in the capital, Harare, managed to open at 7 a.m. as initially planned.
While the counting has begun in several polling stations, others will have to extend the voting period, further escalating tensions in an election already contested by the opposition. The leader of the main opposition party, Nelson Chamisa, strongly criticized the delays and accused the ruling party, Zanu-PF, of trying to disrupt the electoral process by creating deliberate obstacles.
Nelson Chamisa stated, “We are clearly seeing obstacles that are meant to disenfranchise voters, an archaic form of rigging that belongs to a bygone era.” He also accused the ruling party of sowing confusion to compromise the integrity of the election.
Over 6.6 million voters are called to the polls to participate in presidential, legislative, and local elections in Zimbabwe. The main contest in this presidential election is between incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa of the ruling Zanu-PF party and Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the main opposition party, the Coalition of Citizens for Change.
