Zanu-PF, MDC in tight contest
Posted: Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Herald Reporter

RESULTS from Saturday's 2008 harmonised elections started trickling in yesterday morning and by last night the main contestants – Zanu-PF and the MDC Tsvangirai faction – were in a neck-and-neck contest in the House of Assembly official results announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

By 10pm last night, the ruling party had won 31 seats, the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC faction 30 seats and the Arthur Mutambara-led MDC faction six seats out of the 67 House of Assembly seats announced.

The results were mostly from Matabeleland South, parts of Masvingo, Bulawayo, Harare, Manicaland, Mashonaland East, West and Central.

There were no results yet from the Presidential and Senate elections.

ZEC deputy chief elections officer Mr Utoile Silaigwana said more results would continue to be released late last night and today, after the usual verification process.

He said results that had been pasted outside polling stations were official though the electoral body was still in the process of verifying them by late last night. He said results for the Presidential race would be announced later, as ZEC was in the process of collating them.

"Results of councillors, House of Assembly representatives and Senators were announced at respective wards and these are now known, but we are still in the process of collating the Presidential ballot," Mr Silaigwana said in a telephone interview.

He advised that voting results were pasted on polling stations for the benefit of the electorate.

Supporters of contesting political parties are eagerly awaiting the outcome of the polls but ZEC chairman Justice George Chiweshe warned earlier on that the results had to be authenticated by a strict verification process to avoid mistakes.

He said unlike the last election where voters were selecting House of Assembly candidates, this time the electorate would have to bear with the time that would be taken as the polls involved four categories, hence the term harmonised. 

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