Monday, 11 March, 2002
Zimbabwe High Court Extends Presidential Polling
VOA
News 11
Mar 2002

Zimbabwe's High Court
says voting will continue Monday in Harare, the capital, and the nearby town of
Chitungwiza in the bitterly contested presidential
election.
The opposition
requested a third day of voting when it became apparent thousands ballots would
not be cast by the time polls closed Sunday. The Registrar-General newspaper
says less than 10 percent of Harare's 800-thousand registered voters had cast
their ballots by mid-day Sunday.
Zimbabwe's Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa now says the government will not appeal the court
order. He says voters in Harare and Chitungwiza who have not cast ballots can
do so today. Earlier, the government had said it would appeal the High Court
Ruling.
The election pits
Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change,
against President Robert Mugabe who has ruled for 22 years. Zimbabwe's election
campaign and voting have been plagued by violence and charges that pro-Mugabe
militants have intimidated the opposition and are trying to rig the vote. The
government denies the charges.
Civil rights groups
in Harare contend that delays at polling stations are part of an organized
attempt to rig the vote in President Robert Mugabe's favor. The government
reduced the number of polling stations in urban areas, where the opposition is
strong, and increased them in the countryside, where President Mugabe is more
popular.
Meanwhile, Reuters
news agency reports the independent Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum as saying at
least 58 people were arrested Sunday in actions targeting opposition
supporters.
An opposition
attorney who heads the Zimbabwe Bar Association, Adrian de Bourban, was
arrested and charged with electoral corruption in Harare after distributing
sandwiches and water to voters.
Some information
for this report provided by AP.
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