WASHINGTON —
The Ncube-MDC formation alleges that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is trying to rig Wednesday national elections in favour of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party.
The party says the city of Bulawayo has received ballot papers that are three times more than the number of registered voters.
MDC spokesman Nhlanhla Dube told VOA at least 900,000 ballot papers had been sent by ZEC to Bulawayo which has slightly over 300,000 registered voters, sparking fears of a plot to steal the vote.
ZEC officials were not immediately available for comment. Dube said the ballot papers were discovered when all political parties were tallying the numbers sent into their area by ZEC.
He says his party is closely monitoring the movement of the ballot boxes to counter any possible rigging.
“It is curious though that ZEC printed duplicate ballot papers in addition to the ones which have been verified by the election agents of political parties," said Dube. "Needless to say that we have rejected these duplicates and we demanded that they be destroyed immediately.”
Meanwhile, Morgen Komichi, the chief election agent for MDC president, Morgan Tsvangirai, has been remanded in custody after the State refused him bail on charges that he opened a ballot paper used during the special vote for members of the uniformed forces early this month.
Komichi is also the MDC deputy national chairperson and deputy transport minister.
The ballot paper was found dumped in a dustbin at the Harare International Conference Centre weeks after the special vote by civil servants who will be on duty Wednesday. The case was to Tuesday.
"What the MDC finds puzzling is that Honourable Komichi was arrested when he is the one who made a complaint to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on how the ballot paper had found its way into the dustbin," the MDC-T says in a statement.
The party says the city of Bulawayo has received ballot papers that are three times more than the number of registered voters.
MDC spokesman Nhlanhla Dube told VOA at least 900,000 ballot papers had been sent by ZEC to Bulawayo which has slightly over 300,000 registered voters, sparking fears of a plot to steal the vote.
ZEC officials were not immediately available for comment. Dube said the ballot papers were discovered when all political parties were tallying the numbers sent into their area by ZEC.
He says his party is closely monitoring the movement of the ballot boxes to counter any possible rigging.
“It is curious though that ZEC printed duplicate ballot papers in addition to the ones which have been verified by the election agents of political parties," said Dube. "Needless to say that we have rejected these duplicates and we demanded that they be destroyed immediately.”
Meanwhile, Morgen Komichi, the chief election agent for MDC president, Morgan Tsvangirai, has been remanded in custody after the State refused him bail on charges that he opened a ballot paper used during the special vote for members of the uniformed forces early this month.
Komichi is also the MDC deputy national chairperson and deputy transport minister.
The ballot paper was found dumped in a dustbin at the Harare International Conference Centre weeks after the special vote by civil servants who will be on duty Wednesday. The case was to Tuesday.
"What the MDC finds puzzling is that Honourable Komichi was arrested when he is the one who made a complaint to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on how the ballot paper had found its way into the dustbin," the MDC-T says in a statement.