If there were instances where for one reason or another the forms were not recorded as they should have been, specific evidence detailing the gaps and the discrepancies should have been filed before this court.
This could have been connected to the allegations of malpractice against the commission.In the second incident, the applicant urges or argues that the crux of his case stays even without the primary evidence.
It was argued that an attack on the figures produced by the electoral commission itself would suffice to invalidate the election. Even then, all the allegations made against the commission were debunked to some degree by the electoral commission, specifically and systematically.
The election result and the admission by ZEC On the 3rd of August 2018, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission announced that Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa having achieved the required fifty percent plus one vote from the election, was declared to be the duly elected President of Zimbabwe.
The declaration was made in terms of Section 110 (3) paragraph f(ii) of the Electoral Act. It states (f), subject to paragraph (h), after the number of votes received by each candidate as shown in each constituency return has been added together in terms of paragraph (e), the chairperson of the commission or in his or her absence, the deputy chairperson, or in his or her absence, a commissioner designated by the chairperson shall:1. Where there are two candidates, forthwith declare the candidate who has received the greater number of votes to be duly elected as President of the Republic of Zimbabwe with effect from the day of such declaration. OR2. Where there are more than two candidates forthwith declare the candidate who has received more than half the number of votes to be duly elected as President of the Republic of Zimbabwe with effect from the day of such declaration. OR3.
Where there are more than two candidates and no candidate has received more than half the number of votes forthwith declare that a run-off Presidential election shall be held on the date fixed by the President in terms of Section 38(1) paragraph A (iii) that is to say “a fixed date not less than 28 and not more than 42 days after the polling day or last polling day as the case may be of the original election provided that the electoral court on the application of the commission may for good cause extend the period at court. Now the declaration as set out for this provisions is the legal event.
This is upon any candidate reaching the 50 percent plus one vote threshold. Whether or not a candidate has reached this threshold is a question of fact. It not a question of figures.
The declaration can only be changed and altered by this court in terms of section 110 subsection 3 paragraph (i) which says, “A declaration by the chairperson of the commission or in his or her absence the deputy chairperson, or in his or her absence a commissioner designated by the chairperson under paragraph (h) shall be final, subject to reversal on petition to the electoral court that such declaration will be set aside or to the proceedings relating to that election being declared void.
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