ELECTION WATCH 24/2023

[23rd August 2023]

Late Opening of Polling Stations

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission [ZEC] has Issued a Notice Saying:

“The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) would like to advise the public that polling stations which opened late will have their voting times extended by the length of time of the delay, such that they run for twelve continuous hours.”

So it seems clear that all polling stations which opened late will remain open after 7 p.m. to give voters an opportunity to cast their votes, even if they have to do so late into the night.

Section 53 of the Electoral Act says that polling stations must be open continuously from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on polling day.  For various reasons some polling stations were unable to open at 7 a.m. today – a polling station in Glen View South did not open until 3:30 in the afternoon.

Section 53 of the Act caters for this by saying:

“… If for good cause the constituency elections officer determines that it is not possible to open a polling station at 7.00 a.m., he or she shall fix such later opening time as will enable him or her to keep the polling station open for at least twelve hours continuously on a polling day.”

Section 53(3) further says that people who are queuing to vote when a polling station is due to close must be permitted to cast their votes at the station.

Whether the Glen View South polling station should remain open until 3:30 tomorrow morning is debatable because tomorrow is not a polling day.  The presiding officer of the polling station will probably be entitled to close the station after midnight if there are no more voters coming in to vote.

Our advice is that if your polling stationed opened late – go and vote.  

If your polling station opened  very late – i.e. in the afternoon – go before midnight.