ZEC failure to provide online voters roll stalls MDC-T election challenge

via ZEC failure to provide online voters roll stalls MDC-T election challenge | SW Radio Africa by Alex Bell  November 13, 2013 

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s (ZEC) ongoing failure to provide an electronic copy of the voters roll has halted an electoral challenge by the MDC-T’s Jameson Timba.

Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, sitting as a judge of the Electoral Court, last month ordered the opening of all ballot boxes and election materials for Mount Pleasant’s National Assembly election, held on 31st July.

The order follows a court application by Timba, the MDC-T candidate in the area, to have the election result there set aside. He argued that there were several electoral malpractices and irregularities.

The order by Justice Bhunu originally said the inspection would begin from 31st October.

But this never happened after ZEC challenged the decision.

This week, Timba’s legal challenge was once again stalled after his application for an electronic copy of the voters roll was dismissed. ZEC has maintained that technical problems are preventing it from releasing an electronic copy of the roll.

Justice Bhunu dismissed the application on the basis that Timba needs to prove these technical challenges have been sorted out, before he can apply to the courts for the voters roll.

“Thus, before the Applicant’s application in this respect can succeed, he needs to show that the suspensive condition relating to the non-functionality of the electronic equipment has been fulfilled. In the absence of such fulfilment, the application cannot succeed,” ruled Justice Bhunu.

ZEC is claiming that their computers are still ‘broken.’