The Zimbabwe Election Support Network ZESN) is a coalition of 37 Non-Governmental Organisations
(NGOs) which was formed in the year 2000. The major focus of the Network is to promote democratic
processes in general and free and fair elections in particular. Following an invitation by the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC), ZESN trained and deployed a total of 6,500 Short-Term Observers (STOs) to
observe the 23 August 2023 Harmonised Elections. These accredited observers were deployed to every
constituency, ward, district and province in the country to observe the political environment and all
Election Day processes.
In addition, ZESN partnered with the Election Resource Centre (ERC) in deploying sample-based observers
to observe Election Day processes. In Zimbabwe, national Harmonised Elections are conducted once
every five years. Three elections are held concurrently namely; the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local
Authority elections. The 23 August 2023 Harmonised Elections were the fourth to be held under this
system since the year 2008 and the third under a new Constitution which was adopted in the year 2013.
This report presents an account of the pre-election situation, the Election Day observations and the post-election environment in the country.
On 31 May 2023, President Emmerson Mnangagwa proclaimed the election dates. Under Statutory
Instrument 85 of 2023, the President fixed the 23 August as polling day and June 21 as the date on
which Nomination Courts would sit countrywide to accept applications by political parties and their
candidates to take part in the polls. In line with Presidential proclamation, the Harmonised Elections
were conducted on 23 August 2023. On Election Day, there was another statutory instrument to extend
voting in some constituencies to 24 August because of delays in opening of some of the polling stations
due to logistical hurdles such as the deployment of wrong ballot papers or missing ballot papers
