Zimbabwe elections
Massive intimidation reported

afrol.com, 24 June - The elections stared quietly this morning at over 4000 poll stations at 7 am. Signs were positive that the feared intimidations would not proceed. Later on, however, reports of massive intimidation were being received from around the country. They ranged from barricades being set up by war veterans and blocking or attacking polling agents; to international observers appearing not to know electoral law; to the abduction of polling agents; or polling agents not being allowed into booths; and many complaints about people who were on the original voters roll or supplementary rolls, not being on the roll today. 

Problems with voter rolls are reported from Borrowdale and Harare East. Craighie Polling Station has the wrong voters roll. Mt Pleasant High was missing two voters rolls.

There follows a cue summing up of incident reported from all over the country:

Mashonaland Central

· Guruve South: Bus in Victory Block attacked, 10 injured, one missing. Reported to police.
· Midvale Farm: War Vets camped at Gapwe/Dunavete.
· Dalston Farm: 400 youths collected Friday night at Chinhamwe and were intimidating workers.
· Marijnara Farm: Abductions of farmworkers reported.

Mazoe East
· Hayshot farm - followed by a Zanu PF truck with 13 Zanu PF youths followed his truck to polling station and forced them to turn around. The youths then proceeded to polling station and were threatening voters.

Bindura

· ZanuPF truck is blocking the main road into Pinto Park, the polling station and not allowing anyone to go through.

Harare East
· Chikurubi polling station not accepting receipts for the supplementary roll, telling people to return Sunday.
· Highlands School polling station - four local monitors ejected from the polling booth by the presiding officer just after international observers passed through.
· The constituency registrar was turning away transfers even though people were on the roll at Hatfield. 
· Queensdale Polling station - all polling agents were pushed out and were told their accreditation was not valid until the MDC candidate arrived and ensured their readmittance.
· OAU observers tried to disallow the MDC candidate from the Hatfield constituency. 

Harare North
· Sangononoyi Inn Policeman refused to allow MDC candidate Trudy Stevenson into polling station and would not give his police force number.

Mashonaland West

· Zvimba North: Voters are being made to put ink on their fingers before their names are checked

Mashonaland Central
· Centenary: Extensive intimidation of farmworkers and farmers reported.
· Nyanmetsa Polling station: No MDC polling agents, 3 war vets inside polling station. 

Hwedza
· Peter Trigg, an election agent and polling agents were stopped at barricades on a farm and around 20 war veterans tried to pull them from their vehicle, they resisted and the car was pelted with stones and badly damaged. They managed to drive to a polling station and reported the incident to 4 police officers who did nothing. They left that polling station and encountered another barricade with around 15 war vets, they drove back to the polling station and this time police reinforcements came out.

Matabeleland
· Bulawayo: Dumiso Dabengwa, Minister of Home Affairs was not on the voters' roll but the Constituence Officer allowed him to vote; this privilege was also extended to MDC legal head, David Coltart who was also not on the voters roll. No supplementary roll in many places, people with a receipt for re-registration are not allowed to vote because they are not on roll. At the Famona firestation, Bulawayo South the international observers and police said people should be allowed to vote if they have a receipt, but generally this is not happening.
· Last night 10 people in Lobengula were beaten up and had their ID cards stolen by ZanuPF. Five MDC youths were abducted from homes in Lobengula West, were beaten up, then held in Block 59 Ndlovu's house and then released. A number of additional youths still being held. Police notified at Mpopoma police
station.

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