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US: Delay in Zimbabwe Election Results Troubling

By David Gollust
State Department
01 April 2008

The United States says the delay in releasing results from Zimbabwe's elections is troubling. The State Department urged the Zimbabwean electoral commission to produce official figures, especially from the presidential contest, as soon as possible. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The State Department says the lack of even partial results from the Zimbabwean presidential race raises questions about the integrity of the process, and it is calling for election authorities to produce official figures without further delay.

Saturday's presidential race was considered the most serious challenge to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party in 28 years of increasingly authoritarian rule.

In a talk with reporters, State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said the United States, at this point, has no reason to question projections by local civil society groups that show opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai running well ahead of Mr. Mugabe.

Casey said it is up to the country's electoral commission to count every vote and release results quickly:

"Given all the problems that we noted prior to the election, these kinds of delays and the refusal to release even any kind of partial results along the way raise questions as to what the actual intent of the Zimbabwean electoral commission is," he said. "We have seen the results of some estimated tallies that have been done by NGO's as well as by the opposition party itself that would fairly clearly place Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, ahead in this process. We certainly think that those results ought to be either verified or shown to be untrue by an actual vote count released by the Zimbabwean electoral commission."

Monday, the State Department appealed to the electoral commission, dominated by Mugabe loyalists, to rise above partisan sympathies and do the right thing by following the law and making sure that all votes cast are accurately counted.

Spokesman Casey said if it turns out that the opposition has won the election, the United States would expect President Mugabe and others to respect the results and the will of the Zimbabwean people and step aside.

The United States has been increasingly critical of President Mugabe and key associates for past election rigging, political repression, and for policies U.S. officials say ruined Zimbabwe's once vibrant economy.

Before Saturday's presidential and parliamentary voting, the United States had expressed concern over a list of potential problems, including bias in election coverage by government-controlled media, inaccurate voter rolls, and intimidation of opposition activists.