Towards delivering credible polls in Zimbabwe

This policy brief by the Institute for Security Studies analyzes the political environment in Zimbabwe leading up to the 2013 general elections. It examines the impact of the March 2013 constitutional referendum, the role of international bodies like SADC and the UN, and the risks of electoral violence given the country's history and the partisan nature of its security sector.

• The March 16, 2013 constitutional referendum saw a high turnout and overwhelming support, with 3,317,695 people participating and 94.5 per cent voting in favour of the new constitution.
• Despite the peaceful referendum, there are significant risks of violence in the 2013 elections due to Zimbabwe's history of electoral conflict and the potential for security forces to act in a partisan manner.
• The focus on constitutional reform led to the neglect of other critical electoral preparations, including voter registration, the cleaning of the voters' roll, and reforms regarding the media and security sector governance.
• International responses to the referendum included the lifting of targeted sanctions by Australia, the European Union, and the United States, although some measures against President Robert Mugabe and other entities remained.
• The United Nations' efforts to provide electoral assistance have been hindered by a lack of agreement on the modalities for a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM), as of April 30, 2013.
• The author identifies five possible trajectories for the elections: a ZANU-PF victory, an MDC-T victory requiring SADC/AU guarantees for power transfer, an inconclusive result leading to new power-sharing, a split election deferring the presidential poll, or the formation of a grand coalition of change.

APA

Dzinesa, G. A. (2013). Towards delivering credible polls in Zimbabwe. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief41.pdf

Chicago

Dzinesa, Gwinyayi A. Towards delivering credible polls in Zimbabwe. Institute for Security Studies, 2013. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief41.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dzinesa |first1=Gwinyayi A. |title=Towards delivering credible polls in Zimbabwe |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=May 2013 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief41.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dzinesa2013towards, author = {Dzinesa, Gwinyayi A.}, title = {{Towards delivering credible polls in Zimbabwe}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2013}, month = may, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief41.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }