ZIMBABWE’s July 30 presidential election will provide no clear winner, with 40 per cent of voters choosing President Emmerson Mnangagwa and 37 percent his opponent, Nelson Chamisa, according to an Afrobarometer poll released on Friday.

The poll of 2,400 voting-age adults conducted between June 25 and July 6 found 20 per cent of people would not disclose their choice.

If no candidate receives more than 50 per cent of the vote there will be a runoff on Sept. 8.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) on Tuesday warned political parties and other stakeholders to desist from disrupting electoral proceedings or face the full wrath of the law.

According to the chairperson, Mrs Priscilla Chigumba, ZEC had witnessed incidents where some people had tried to destabilise the processing of postal votes on the pretext of demanding transparency.

She cited an incident in the town of Zvishavane in Midlands Province where members of the MDC Alliance allegedly disrupted the issuing of postal vote envelops to 78 applicants who were supposed to be deployed on electoral duties.

She said the matter had been reported to the police for further investigations and those whose papers were not processed within the deadline set by the law would now have to vote by ordinary process on July 30.

She said in terms of the Electoral Act, it was an offense for a person to willfully interrupt, obstruct or disturb any proceedings taken in terms of the law.

“Any further disruption by any party or stakeholder may force the commission to invoke this provision for those found in breach,” she said.

Chigumba said the Electoral Code of Conduct, which bound political parties, candidates and other stakeholders, prohibited declaration or announcement of the results of an election before it had been declared officially by an electoral officer.

MDC Alliance Nelson Chamisa said recently that he would announce the election results ahead of ZEC to enable the electorate to compare figures. (Xinhua/NAN)

– Jul. 20, 2018 @ 16:35 GMT