Fact Check: Can they tell who you voted for?

Claim: In a video clip which went viral on Zimbabwe social media platforms, ZANU PF parliamentary candidate for Zvishavane-Ngezi, Mecky Jaravaza, is shown telling a campaign rally that the ruling party can verify how people voted by tracking ballot paper serial numbers.

In the 140-second video, Jaravaza claims in the local Shona language that his party had no means in the past elections of establishing individual voter choices.

“In the past we did not have the means to know who you voted for but we now know.

When you enter the ballot box you will be given different ballot papers, one may be blue paper or any other colour, and when you look at it, you will see that it has a number.

“That number will be used to record your name, and our election agents have been trained in Harare to identify which serial numbers voted for CCC (opposition Citizens Coalition for Change). You therefore can no longer deceive us if you vote for (Nelson) Chamisa and come out claiming you voted for (President Emmerson) Mnangagwa,” Jaravaza claimed.

Verdict: False

The Electoral Act prescribes the duties, conduct and responsibilities of election officers which do not entail identifying the electorate’s vote of choice or ballot serial number as claimed by Jaravaza.

Section 86 (1) of the Electoral Act states that: “Every electoral officer, monitor, candidate and chief election agent or election agent in attendance at a polling station shall maintain, and aid in maintaining, the secrecy of the voting at that station and shall not communicate, except for some purpose authorised by law, to any person any information likely to defeat the secrecy of the voting.”

Election agents do not have access to the electorate’s ballot and are mandated by the Electoral Act’s section 86 (3) not to coerce voters from revealing their votes, which states: “No person shall, directly or indirectly, induce a voter to display his or her ballot paper after he or she has marked the same in such a manner as to make known to any person the name of the candidate for whom the voter has so marked his or her vote.”

Section 86 (6) of the Electoral Act makes it a criminal offence for any election stakeholder including election agents to attempt to contravene previous provisions of this section and if found guilty of an offence are liable to a fine not exceeding level six or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

Conclusion

The claims are in breach of The Electoral Act’s provisions and his comments undermine a free and fair election process where the electorate are obligated to vote for candidates of their choice under a secret ballot.