ZESN sample say ED won election, demands more accountability, transparency

Zimbabwe Elections Support Network (ZESN) give Mnangagwa 50.7% win

Harare: In what is likely to weaken MDC Alliance Presidential candidate, Nelson Chamisa’s case against ZEC, the Zimbabwe Elections Support Network (ZESN) has released its Presidential election estimated ranges which appear to confirm the figures announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission yesterday.

According to ZESN’s sample based observation report released today, Emmerson Mnangagwa scored 50.7% with a margin of error of two percent while Nelson Chamisa of the MDC Alliance stood at 45.8% again with a margin of error of plus or minus two percent.

ZESN’s report is in sharp contrast to claims by the MDC Alliance that its results tabulation puts Nelson Chamisa ahead of Mnangagwa.

Chamisa has already dismissed the results announced by ZEC saying they are ‘cooked’ to subvert the will of the people.

In his argument, Chamisa accused ZEC of delaying the release of the Presidential election results even though they were the first to be announced.

Meanwhile, ZESN has called on ZEC to urgently release polling station level results for all the elections including the presidential to enhance transparency and accountability.

“ZEC’s announced official results are consistent with the SBO projections. The percent vote for each candidate as officially announced by the ZEC fall within the SBO estimated ranges.

“Because the SBO estimated range for the leading candidate falls above and below 50%, the SBO cannot definitively confirm whether or not there should have been a runoff,” noted ZESN.

It must be noted that ZESN’s 750 sample based observers were not deployed to remote rural areas, so they did not have people on the ground in deep corners of inaccessible places like Gokwe, Uzumba and Muzarabani.