Mozambique: Election Results Approved by 9-7 Vote

The national elections results were only approved by the National Elections Commission (CNE) in a narrow 9-7 vote early Thursday morning. The seven opponents demanded that votes be recounted at the polling stations where there was a a different number of voters in the three elections and that the invalid votes (nulos) be checked (requalified).

A common fraud is to take ballots for the opposition and simply put them in the pile of nulos. Requalification is checking the invalid votes and giving back those that are valid and had been fraudulently been counted as invalid. The law requires the requalification by the CNE, which declined to do it. The opponents say requalification must be done, as required by law. If recounts and requalifications are not done, then the 2024 General Elections should be cancelled, say the opponents.

They cited 10 reasons for rejecting the election: https://bit.ly/Moz-El-D105

+ A gross failure to "create an environment of trust and credibility for the entire electoral process".

+ "The marginalisation of the technicians appointed by the political parties was notorious in the STAEs at all levels, especially in the CPD [computer processing department]" where registration data is stored and which carried out the centralisation of election results. "This marginalisation has affected the smoothness of the process and the credibility of the results, as it was not done in compliance with the Electoral Law."

+ "The selection of trainers of polling station staff (MMVs) was based on lists provided by the Frelimo Party, operationalised by the district directors of the STAE, thus violating electoral norms and promoting fraud in Mozambique's electoral system."

+ "The late deployment of Renamo and MDM MMVs. In some cases they were chased away by the so-called CNJ observers (https://bit.ly/Moz-El-D105) who we believe may have been members of the Frelimo party, who circulated in the polling stations dictating illegal orders, outside their scope of observation." (In Zambézia 9204 observers were registered, the CNE announced Thursday. It appears that about 1000 are real observers and the other 8000+ are fake Frelimo CNJ observers. They are also used for ballot box stuffing.)

+ "The circulation of pre-voted ballot papers, outside the control of the electoral bodies and leading to the stuffing of ballot boxes with the connivance of the returning officers (presidents) of the polling stations and the directors of the STAEs, which constitutes serious violations of electoral law."

+ "The discrepancy in the number of voters between the three elections -Presidential, Legislative and Provincial - with significant differences and high numbers in some provinces;

+ "The presence of numbers of votes in the ballot boxes above the number of registered voters in the register book, of which the highest number of votes cast was in the Epworth/Mabvukuem polling station in Harare, with 595 registered voters, but 750 people voted",

+ "At district level there were no polling station by polling station results centralisation maps. Also the high number of blank and null votes may indicate a lack of transparency in the process."

+ "At the national tabulation [Wednesday night], party agents were sent out of the room during the the presentation of the minutes, so they had no opportunity to check how their submitted complaints were reported."

+ "The failure of STAE to respond to the doubts raised during the tabulation session" and their failure to use their computers to provide answers.

The nine who voted to approve the election results were the CNE chair, Anglican Bishop Carlos Matsinhe, Daud Dauto Ussene Ibramogy, Alice Banze, and Paulo Cuinica, all from civil society, plus five from Frelimo, Carlos Alberto Cauio, Mário Ernesto, António Focas Mauvilo, Rodrigues Timba, and Eugénia Fernando Jorge Fafetine Chimpene.

When the Bishop and chair voted to approve the obviously fake results last year in the municipal elections, it caused an outcry. The Anglican Council of Mozambique urged the electoral bodies, in particular CNE chair Matsinhe, to observe the electoral law and “to practice the truth”. A pastoral letter from the Council, signed by Deputy Chair Vicente Msosa, said the Anglican Church laments all failings in election management, and interference by unspecified “other bodies outside the electoral process”.

The letter said that Mozambicans expect from the CNE (and especially from Matsinhe) honesty and truthfulness, recalling that, according to the Gospel of St. John, “the truth will set you free”. The Bishop retired from his post on 15 July 2024, but remains in post as head of the CNE, supporting fraudulent elections.

The letter by those who voted against was signed by  Fernando Mazanga, Maria Anastácia da Costa Xavier, Abílio Baessa da Fonseca. Barnabé Lucas Nomo, Rui Manuel Cherene, and Apolinário João Mangote Site, all from opposition parties, and Salomão Moiane, nominated by civil society.

The CNE approval of the results was done at a marathon tabulation meeting partly open to party agents and observers, which continued from 13.00 Wednesday until 08.00 Thursday morning. Results were formally announced at a four hour public ceremony Thursday afternoon in which all results were slowly read out.

This article originally appeared in AllAfrica