Zimbabwe – were the 31 March elections free and fair?
Comments by those who observed the 31 March elections
Posted: 2005-04-13
Were the 31 March Parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe free and fair? Different observers came to different conclusions. Read the election observer mission reports to find out:
Standards and guidelines for observing and assessing the freedom, fairness and integrity of electoral processes have developed through debate over many years. IDEA has played an important role in this debate: you can download IDEA’s Guidelines for Determining Involvement in International Observation here.
The Zimbabwe Parliamentary elections are not the first occasion on which electoral observation missions have issued differing or even contradictory assessments. They are also not the first time that organisations with a track record of electoral observation have decided not to take part in observing a particular election.
There is a long record of electoral observation mission reports which are independent assessments of an election. A considerable number are based on analysis, against established guidelines, of an extensive volume of information gathered throughout an election process. Others are however based on much less comprehensive data gathered over a much shorter period. In practically all parts of the world, the contents of some reports are in reality constrained by the policies of the countries or organisations that send the observers. Some reports may even be efforts by countries or organisations to support a predetermined political position.
IDEA has put together a package with backgrounders, factsheets and statistics to contribute to your analysis of both the Zimbabwean elections themselves and of the views of those who observed them.
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