Helicopter to lift Zimbabwe out of early vote chaos

Zimbabwe's electoral authorities on Monday mobilized a helicopter and kept printers running to ensure ballot papers reach tens of thousands of police officers queuing across the southern African country to cast votes in a special election voting marred by delays. The special voting began Sunday but proceeded at snail's pace due to the lack of ballot papers. Long hours of waiting frustrated some potential voters -- the vast majority being police officers -- and caused chaos in a few polling stations. Nearly 70,000 police officers, thousands of election officers, and hundreds of soldier are asked to vote two weeks before the July 31 election date because they will be deployed on duty then. Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) deputy chairperson Joyce Kazembe told reporters that printing of ballot papers delayed even beyond their expectation and the delays were caused by a number of reasons, especially the delay in finalizing the designing of the ballot papers in some wards and constituencies where the nomination court decision was under challenge. A number of people whose nomination papers were rejected by the Nomination Court challenged the decisions at the Constitutional Court, and the last case was only concluded on Friday, she said. But Kazembe reassured the public, saying that the printing was in progress, with all voters -- about 87,000 -- are expected to cast their ballot papers by the close of polling stations late Monday. "We have a helicopter under police escort which will dispatch ballot papers to areas which we cannot supply by car," she said, adding that if there are still queues of potential voters by the closing time, they will be given a chance to fish casting the ballot papers. As the first voting day ended, a total of 6,092 ballot papers had been dispatched to nine of the country's 10 provinces, but the province of Masvingo was still to receive a single ballot. This is the first time that Zimbabwe has embarked on special voting prior to the holding of national elections. Uniformed forces were allowed to vote in public and the process was open to local and foreign observers. Kazembe also said ZEC was happy with the peaceful environment that prevailed. The delays called into question whether the country is ready to hold general elections in less than three weeks' time. About 6 million people will vote in 9,000 polling stations to choose a president, more than 200 National Assembly members, and nearly 2, 000 local councilors to sit in for the next five years. The presidential race would mainly be a contest between veteran President Robert Mugabe and his long-time rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. The two, forced into a coalition government after disputed elections in 2008, have kicked off intensive campaigning across the southern African country. Finance Minister Tendai Biti last week said the cash-strapped government still needs about 8 million U. S. dollars for election preparation and has appealed for help from neighboring countries, probably South Africa and Angola.