Zim ballot boxes `tampered with`

21 April, 2008 in Zimbabwe

source: News24
21/04/2008 14:12 – (SA)

Cape Town – The recount in a number of constituencies in Zimbabwe is futile because ballot boxes have been tampered with, says a South African member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer team.

“From what I have seen and experienced in Zimbabwe over the past three days, it is clear that the process of recounting the contested wards from the recent elections is fatally flawed,” Democratic Alliance MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard said on Monday.

The process had been marred by delays, administrative problems and the clear political intent of blaming the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for all the problems associated with the recount.

“Of particular concern was the evidence of ballot box tampering that I witnessed personally, which points to a concerted effort to rig the election results in order to bring about a Mugabe ‘victory’,” she said in a statement.

Broken seals on ballot boxes

Evidence supporting this view included repeated miscommunication of venue addresses, resulting in party agents and [continue reading]