Report claims evidence of Mugabe rigging

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A Zimbabwean pro-democracy movement Sokwanele, whose name translates as "enough is enough", said official figures showed massive ballot stuffing started half an hour after the polls closed at 7pm when sample counts showed a victory for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. In the most extreme cases, the group claims that Zanu-PF more than doubled its support in some constituencies from 6,000 to 16,000 votes in the hours between the polls closing on March 31 and a result being declared early the next morning. "The fraud is out, and for all to see," the report said. "There can be no denying that Zanu-PF have been caught red-handed." Sokwanele said the fraud was revealed when the turnout figures as of 7.30pm for 72 out of Zimbabwe's 120 constituencies were mistakenly read out on state television and radio by officials from the electoral commission. That meant the group could compare the original turnout figures with the much higher number of votes reported in the later results. Assuming Zanu-PF would not use "ghost voter" ballots to increase the opposition share of the vote, the difference would be the extra votes the party gave to itself. In the Goromonzi constituency in Mashonaland East province, the electoral commission put turnout at 15,661 at 7.30pm but the declared results read out several hours later added up to 26,123 votes: Zanu-PF recorded 16,782 - more than the announced number of voters - the MDC took 8,578 and 763 ballot papers were spoiled. Subtracting the 10,462 excess votes from the declared Zanu-PF total, Sokwanele puts the ruling party behind the MDC on 6320 votes in Goromonzi.