Libinance Dokora
Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) has filed an urgent court application against the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), in a bid to attain an order that will intimate electoral body to disclose all the information relating to the printing, distribution, and serial numbers of the ballot papers for the August 23 harmonised elections.
The main opposition party argues that the electoral board has breached the plain dictates of the electoral law which are enshrined in the Electoral Act by printing the ballot papers without the knowledge and consent of the contesting parties.
The opposition party has requested that ZEC be ordered to provide applicants with the serial numbers of the ballot papers in order to verify that the total number of ballot papers printed does not exceed the 10 percent margin of the number of eligible voters, as required by the Electoral Act.
Commenting on the urgent High Court Application, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) said the party filed an urgent court application against the electoral board over what they termed illegal ballot printing citing that the printing of ballot papers without the knowledge of elections candidates and political parties contravenes the electoral law.
“We have filed an urgent court application to challenge the printing of the ballot paper without the knowledge of all electoral players, including us. This action by ZEC violates electoral laws, as it is unacceptable to secretly print the ballot box without informing the involved parties. We demand answers from ZEC.,” said the main opposition party. In another case before the court, the CCC also wants ZEC to provide the opposition party with the final voters’ roll, which they claim has not been released despite repeated requests.
In that matter, the Harare High Court gave the legal teams from CCC and ZEC until the end of the day today to reach an agreement on the matter, or else it will hear arguments on Thursday.
During the hearing, Justice Never Katiyo, who is presiding over the case, expressed his displeasure over the public criticism of his previous ruling that dismissed a previous application by the CCC.
“For the public to be told ‘what I did was wrong,’ this was not good. We’re professionals, we shouldn’t behave like that. Let’s not incite violence. My security was threatened,” Justice Katiyo said.