Following voting in Zimbabwe’s general election, some people and organisations have taken to their social media platforms to post results they say are sourced from polling stations around the country. The factsheet outlines who can announce election results officially.
What does the law say about this?
The Zimbabwe Electoral Act prohibits unofficial or false declaration of results. Section 66A (1) states that it is illegal for one to announce results of an election as the true or official results or purport to declare any candidate to have been duly elected before and electoral officer has announced the result of an election or declared a candidate to be duly elected in that election.
Can you post results from a polling station?
Section 66A (3) states that one is not prevented from reporting the number of votes received by a candidate or political party in an election, where the report is based on polling station returns and constituency returns from the election concerned,
What will happen to you if you violate this provision?
This could result in a fine of imprisonment
Source
Electoral Act
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