Press Release

Statement from the American Embassy in Kinshasa
on Election Results in Zimbabwe

April 2, 2008

Voting in the Zimbabwe elections concluded Saturday, but the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) continues to slowly release results.  The ZEC has now announced the results of 131 of the total 210 House of Assembly seats: 64 to the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), 62 to the Tsvangirai faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and 5 to the Mutambara faction of the MDC.  The ZEC has not released any reports as to its presidential race tabulation.

We remain deeply concerned by the slow pace of the ZEC official tabulation, a concern that has been widely shared by the international community.

We continue to urge all parties to refrain from violence and to respect the right of all Zimbabweans to express their views and express their democratic preferences.

We continue to urge the ZEC to release the entire election results, including the presidential election returns, as quickly as possible.  Continuing the delay in releasing the results undermines confidence in the accuracy of the announcement.  We urge the ZEC to ensure that the announced results are consistent with the votes as they were counted and publicly displayed at the polls.

Given the tarnished history of the Government of Zimbabwe during election periods, we think it important to await additional independent verification of the results prior to commenting on the election outcome.

We remain deeply concerned, however, that the official results may not accurately reflect the will of the Zimbabwean people and free and fair election may have been precluded given the pre-election irregularities observed, including:

• Inaccurate voter rolls, including the presence of dead or non-existent voters;
• Considerable over-production of ballots;
• Over-production of postal ballots for voting by police, military, diplomats, and electoral officials;
• Absence of independent observation of the counting of postal votes to prevent multiple voting;
• Permission for police forces to be present inside polling stations in breach of an agreement reached between ZANU-PF and the MDC as part of the Southern African Development Community negotiations.  Pursuant to the agreement, the Electoral Act was amended to prohibit the presence of the police.  Last week, President Mugabe contravened the amendment and unilaterally decreed that police could be present;
• Politicized distribution of government-controlled food and other benefits and government resources by ZANU-PF officials; and
• The composition of the ZEC itself, heavily based in its support of Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party.

Currently, the situation in Zimbabwe remains calm, but is very fluid.  We will continue to monitor the situation closely.

The Government of Zimbabwe has a history of perpetrating violence during and after elections and has repeatedly participated in acts of politically motivated violence in the lead-up to this election.

We call on the Government of Zimbabwe and others to allow the electoral process to continue unfettered, to respect the rights of citizens who express their democratic will, and to refrain from engaging in acts of violence, which have no place in a democratic society.  We will hold those responsible for violence accountable.