The ZimbabweElection Support Network, which had some 6,000 observers in the 8,000 polling stations, says that some 10% of would-be voters were turned away, either because their names were not on the electoral roll, they did not have the right identity papers, or they were in the wrong constituency.
Zimbabwe ratified new Southern African Development Community rules [13] in August 2004 governing principles and guidelines on elections; however, no reports on Zimbabwe's compliance have been issued by the body.
Other organisations among those invited are the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Law Society of Zimbabwe, ZimbabweElection Support Network, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Affirmative Action Group, Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, Centre for Peace Initiatives in Southern Africa and the Southern African Institute for Democracy and Good Governance.
In January, however, army commander, Vitalis Zvinavashe, issued a thinly-veiled threat of a military coup in the event of a MDC victory: "Let it be known that the highest office in the land is a straitjacket whose occupant is expected to observe the objectives of the liberation struggle.
The masses in Zimbabwe are faced with a choice between the rock of the MDC and the hard place of Zanu-PF.
However, a stalemate in the elections or a narrow victory for either party and the possibility of civil conflict may increase the pressure exerted by South Africa and the EU on Tsvangirai and Mugabe to reach a compromise.
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