Zimbabwe: Allegations that Zimbabwe's ruling party Zanu PF has tried to rig yesterday's parliamentary election emerged last night following a generally peaceful polling day for Zimbabweans.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has claimed the indelible ink voters must mark a finger with after voting, to ensure voters vote only once, can be easily washed off.
According to the party's director of information Nkan Yiso, party members were made aware of the finding yesterday evening after the red ink was tested for authenticity using a variety of different substances.
"The indelible ink used at every polling station around the country can be easily washed off using lemon or brake fluid. This means that Zanu PF could get each of their supporters to vote countless times in the country's 192 constituencies," he said.
During the run-up to yesterday's polling day President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party colleagues were accused of tampering with the electoral roll in an effort to increase illegally the number of votes they could receive on polling day.
According to the official figures, the number of people eligible to vote is around 5.7 million people. However, the MDC estimates the number to be more in the region of 3.3 million, because of deaths from Aids. The higher figure leaves the whole process open to the spectre of "ghost voters" having their say.
MDC party spokesperson Welshman Ncube said last night the party was consulting its senior members in an effort to decide what to do about the discovery. "We are still consulting about the issue and as yet we have not decided a course of action," he told The Irish Times.
Sources close to the opposition party are adamant the matter will not be allowed to slip by without some course of action being taken.
Earlier in the day, morning rains led to concerns among the political parties that a poor voter turnout might occur. But by mid-morning the sun managed to burn off the cloud cover and people began to form lengthy queues in places as they waited to cast their vote. The polling stations opened at 7am and remained open until 7pm, after which the counting began.
The first of the constituency results were expected to begin coming in as early as midnight.
Police arrested two British journalists yesterday on charges of covering the election without state accreditation, an offence that carries a fine and up to two years in jail.
Assistant Police Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said Toby John Harden (37) and Julian Paul Simmonds (46) of the Sunday Telegraph, were arrested while travelling with an opposition candidate.