Zimbabwe claims election is clean
Opposition alleges irregularities, possible vote-rigging
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s electoral commission said Tuesday there had been no vote-rigging in the first election without Robert Mugabe on the ballot, but the opposition alleged irregularities as an anxious nation awaited the first official results.
Dozens of opposition supporters gathered at their headquarters in the capital, Harare, celebrating in the belief that they had won the presidential election based on results they said they collected from agents in the field. Police with water cannon circulated in the area.
Zimbabweans hope the election will help to lift their country out of economic and political stagnation. Millions peacefully cast their ballots on Monday in a process closely watched by international monitors, who have yet to make formal announcements about whether the election was free and fair.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission delayed announcing the first results of the presidential election until the count was complete nationwide, with the final tally expected within five days. The turnout varied from 60 percent to 78 percent, with some areas still reporting.
“The atmosphere has remained peaceful” and the commission had not received any major complaints about how the election was conducted, chief Priscilla Chigumba told reporters.
She said she was confident there was no “cheating” and that the commission will respect the will of Zimbabweans: “We will not steal their choice of leaders, we will not subvert their will.”
Hours after Chigumba spoke, the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, said voting results were not posted outside 21 percent of the country’s nearly 11,000 polling stations as the law requires, raising concerns about possible vote-rigging.
Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, a 40-yearold lawyer and pastor, has said he would lead peaceful protests if the vote is found to be flawed.
The other main contender is 75-year-old President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former deputy president and Mugabe confidante who has reinvented himself as a candidate for change.
Both candidates issued upbeat assessments of how they did, though said they were waiting for the electoral commission to make the final announcement as required by law.