Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) has put forward a proposal to amend the Zimbabwean constitution to enhance the credibility of the next general elections.
The proposed amendment of the constitution is aimed at plugging potential loopholes that could skew the electoral playing field and foster perceptions of bias against opposition political parties.
The proposal will include establishing fixed election dates bonded by law as opposed to the current situation where the President has power to gazette the dates for when elections can be held.
The recommendation is outlined in Zesn’s report titled “Should Zimbabwe Deharmonise its Elections?”
The report contains measures designed at enhancing electoral democracy in Zimbabwe.
The Zesn report argues that setting elections on fixed dates would provide greater procedural certainty for all political contestants and mitigate potential advantages for incumbents.
Currently, section 158 allows the sitting President, who is often a candidate, to unilaterally determine the election date, potentially skewing the playing field and fostering perceptions of bias against opposition parties.
The proposed constitutional amendment would establish a clear electoral timeline, ensuring equal conditions for all candidates.
“Section 158 of the Constitution on the timing of elections can be amended to entrench synchronised elections by providing a fixed election date. This would ensure procedural certainty for all contestants and prevent the incumbent from having the constitutional prerogative to fix the date,” the report states.
The report cites international precedents, such as Sweden’s fixed election date on the second Sunday of September every four years, and the United States’ federal elections held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every four years. Similarly, Liberia and Zambia adhere to fixed election schedules, with elections held on the second Tuesday in October and the second Thursday in August every five years, respectively.
The electoral watchdog also urged authorities to retain the harmonised polls model amid speculation that the government is considering deharmonising future plebiscites starting from 2028.
Under the plot, local government elections would be held in 2028 and presidential and parliamentary elections in 2030.
However, in the report, Zesn says harmonised elections have increased the competitiveness in elections and Zimbabwe must retain them. A harmonised election is when voters cast ballots for different political offices such as the President, members of Parliament (MPs), and local councillors, at the same time.
“Zimbabwe must retain the system of holding harmonised local, parliamentary and presidential elections which it adopted on the 30 of October 2007 and entrenched in the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act,” Zesn said in the report.
“Globally, these are commonly referred to as simultaneous or synchronised elections. The most familiar proposal from proponents of de-harmonisation is that local authority elections must be held separately from presidential and parliamentary elections.”
The theoretical logic is that this will allow voters to give adequate attention to local issues without distraction from national races. Zesn says empirical data shows that simultaneous elections have increased the competitiveness and profile of local elections in Zimbabwe which were dominated by the ruling party before harmonisation as is currently the case with local-only elections in Tanzania and Mozambique.
“In addition, proponents of de-harmonisation argue that holding elections at the same ZESN urges key electoral reforms time can distort results as people are likely to vote along party slates, overwhelm voters and provide administrative and logistical challenges for electoral bodies.”
However, Indonesia with a registered voter population of 200 million compared to Zimbabwe’s 6.6 million had the world’s largest single-day elections where citizens voted across all five levels of political office on 14 February 2024.
“Even in India, the world’s largest democracy with an electorate of about 970 million registered voters, a High Level Committee appointed by government recently recommended simultaneous elections,” reads the report.
Zesn adds that the proposition that people are likely to vote along party slates in synchronised elections can be resolved through massive voter and political education by the election management body, civil society organisations and other stakeholders.
A considered view, therefore, is that synchronising local, presidential and parliamentary elections will result in high voter participation as evident in synchronised local elections such as in the Comoros (71% in 2015); Botswana (84.1%); Zambia (above 70% in 2021); Sweden (84.21% in 2022) and Indonesia (83.29% in 2024). In contrast, voter turnout has been low in de-harmonised local elections like Namibia (38.22% in 2020), South Africa, United States (usually less than 20% when held in off cycles), Lesotho (29% in 2023) and South Africa (45.86% in 2021).
“Simultaneous elections increase competitiveness and profile of local elections contrary to conventional wisdom. Prior to the synchronisation of elections local government elections in Zimbabwe were dominated by the ruling party which could win more than 50% of the wards uncontested as demonstrated in the 2002 and 2006 rural district council elections. In countries with only local elections like Tanzania and Mozambique, the ruling parties won with 99% in 2019 and nearly 100% in 2023, respectively.
Harmonised elections also result in huge financial savings to the public exchequer and one f inancial plan for all spheres of government. In addition, synchronisation can lead to the regular holding of local government elections.
“It is easier for semi-authoritarian states to not hold local elections when they are unsynchronised than when they are synchronised as evident in Angola and Seychelles which hold no local elections as well as the cancellation or postponement of local-only urban government elections in Zimbabwe from the late 1990s to the early 2000s,” reads the report.
Holding elections at the same time reduces cycles of violence and human rights violations in the country.
Data on trends of violence shows that non-election periods in Zimbabwe are comparatively peaceful to election periods.
Synchronised elections will also reduce cycles of uncertainty for corporate investments.
An election is an uncertainty-inducing event and global data shows that during election years, firms reduce investment expenditures by an average of 4.8% relative to non-election years.
Avoiding multiple election cycles also provides increased time for government, business and society to spend on development work, production and governance and aids democratic progression in Zimbabwe’s post-colonial electoral transition.
