Police officers patrol at the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) offices on March 22, 2017 in Harare, Zimbabwe.
HARARE ? The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has on Monday, told opposition parties to lodge their complaints after the elections, effectively dousing their hopes of challenging any anomalies on the voters’ roll.
ZEC chairperson Priscilla Chigumba told journalists that any opposition party with queries could only complain after the elections on July 30.
"Whether the candidates scrutinise the voters’ roll, whether they see any anomalies in it, whatever the anomalies are, whatever legal recourse they have will not stop an election. I want that to be very clear, nothing stops the election,” Chigumba said.
READ: Zimbabwe&39;s split opposition helping Mnangagwa to victory
“Let me put the law into perspective, the first thing to take note is once the President has proclaimed the election date, there is nothing short of an earthquake that can stop the election.
“If there are any anomalies in that roll, candidates can only challenge the outcome of the election. Nothing stops an election after the proclamation of the election date.”
Opposition parties have been piling pressure on the elections body for several weeks.
ZEC released the roll on June 15, a day after the nomination courts sat.
The opposition parties argued that the voters&39; roll was supposed to have been released before the proclamation of the election date, which was done on May 30, by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The public will only access the voters’ roll 48 hours after being released to nominated candidates, after which it will then be gazetted.
