General elections were held throughout Zimbabwe on 23 and 24 August 2023 to elect the president, legislators and councillors. The main race for presidential office was between two candidates of Karanga origin: ZANU–PF's Emmerson Mnangagwa and Citizens Coalition for Change's Nelson Chamisa.

The presidential election was won by the incumbent president Mnangagwa, while the governing ZANU–PF party won a majority of seats in parliament, with observer bodies describing the elections as not being free and fair.

The voter rolls for the election increased to 6.5 million, up from 5.8 million in 2018.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission spoke about the delays citing that they would compensate for the delays meaning if the polling station was opened at 11am, it would close at 11pm to ensure that there is 12 hours of voting. There were some reports from the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation that about 5 wards in Manicaland people did not manage to vote at all because of logistical difficulties which were faced by the ZEC. About 35 more were delayed, of which 11 of them were in the capital of the country, Harare, which ultimately lead to ZEC declaring 24 August 2023 to be a second voting day, although voting is supposed to take place within one day according to Zimbabwean law.

Political parties competed for one presidential seat, 1,970 council seats and 280 parliamentary seats, and 60 senate seats to be elected for a five-year term. As per the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the president is to be elected using the two-round system.

The general population feared possible violence during the election because both sides have a history of political violence. Preelectoral polls suggested a runoff was likely, but Mnangagwa was elected in a single round with a narrow majority.

Electoral system Presidential Election

The president of Zimbabwe is elected using the two-round system.

Parliamentary Election

The 280 members of the National Assembly consist of 210 members elected in single-member constituencies along with 60 women and 10 youth seats elected by proportional representation in ten seven-seat constituencies based on the country's provinces. Voters cast a single vote, which is counted for both forms of election. The 80 members of the Senate include 60 members elected from ten six-member constituencies (also based on the provinces) by proportional representation using party lists; the lists must have a woman at the top and alternate between men and women. The other 20 seats include two reserved for persons with disabilities and 18 for traditional chiefs.

Local Authority Election

The Local Authority elections consist of 1970 members elected in single-member ward along with 603 seats reserved for women elected by proportional representation in local authorities based on an additional 30% of seats in a local authority being reserved for women. Voters cast a single vote, which is counted for both forms of election.

Presidential candidates The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission approved 11 candidates, but disqualified Saviour Kasukuwere for failing to meet residency requirements. The approved candidates include:

Emmerson Mnangagwa of ZANU–PF - incumbent president of Zimbabwe since 2017. Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC). Elisabeth Valerio of the United Zimbabwe Alliance (UZA). Joseph Makamba Busha of the FreeZim Congress (FZC) Tapiwa Trust Chikohora of the Zimbabwe Coalition for Peace and Development Party (ZCPD). Blessing Kasiyamhuru of the Zimbabwe Partnership for Prosperity (ZIPP). Lovemore Madhuku of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA). Harry Peter Wilson of the Democratic Opposition Party (DOP). Henry Gwinyai Muzorewa of the United African National Council (UANC). Wilbert Mubaiwa of the National People's Congress (NPC).

Campaign The main issue of the election campaign was inflation and the economic crisis which had been exacerbated by the hyperinflation of the new Zimbabwean dollar.

The number of women candidates declined significantly compared to previous elections in 2018.

Conduct A Commonwealth observer mission was invited as part of an attempt to restore Zimbabwe's membership in the Commonwealth.

Voting was extended for another day after a lack of ballot papers disrupted voting, with some voters being forced to queue overnight to cast their ballots. There were reportedly delays of up to 10 hours in opposition stronghold areas. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission acknowledged the late distribution of ballot papers at some polling stations and blamed it on printing delays "arising from numerous court challenges". Forty-one poll monitors were arrested during the election, being accused of illegally attempting to announce results before the state elections body. Accusations of vote rigging were made by the opposition.

Results

President

Mnangagwa was re-elected president.

Results by province Results by ProvinceProvince Joseph Makamba Busha Nelson Chamisa Tapiwa Trust Chikohora Blessing Kasiyamhuru Lovemore Madhuku Emmerson Mnangagwa Wilbert Mubaiwa Gwinyai Henry Muzorewa Douglas Mwonzora Elisabeth Valerio Harry Peter Wilson Total Votes Rejected Total Votes Cast Total Valid Votes Cast Voter Population Voter Turnout %FreeZim Congress CCC ZCPD ZIPP NCA ZANU–PF NPC UANC MDC-T UZA DOP Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Bulawayo 437 0.26 131,037 78.52 306 0.18 255 0.15 129 0.08 31,053 18.61 1,389 0.83 230 0.14 1,004 0.60 803 0.48 249 0.15 2,040 1.21 168,932 166,892 287,352 58.79 Harare 1,236 0.17 517,494 71.46 778 0.11 804 0.11 543 0.07 193,881 26.77 4,958 0.68 470 0.06 2,337 0.32 1,365 0.19 325 0.04 10,071 1.37 734,262 724,191 1,084,601 67.70 Manicaland 2,496 0.45 240,672 43.47 1,547 0.28 1,814 0.33 1,074 0.19 290,960 52.56 8,588 1.55 993 0.18 3,891 0.70 713 0.13 877 0.16 11,354 2.01 564,979 553,625 829,324 68.13 Mashonaland Central 2,089 0.44 95,508 19.97 785 0.16 1,289 0.27 455 0.10 370,175 77.41 4,058 0.85 586 0.12 2,280 0.48 358 0.07 648 0.14 9,200 1.89 487,431 478,231 625,968 77.87 Mashonaland East 1,435 0.26 184,827 33.51 892 0.16 914 0.17 415 0.08 354,081 64.20 5,101 0.92 671 0.12 2,178 0.39 435 0.08 563 0.10 10,694 1.90 562,206 551,512 773,281 72.70 Mashonaland West 2,579 0.47 209,744 38.10 1,165 0.21 1,667 0.30 529 0.10 323,523 58.77 5,664 1.03 825 0.15 3,157 0.57 757 0.14 887 0.16 13,931 2.47 564,428 550,497 785,583 71.85 Masvingo 2,634 0.53 167,813 33.96 1,454 0.29 2,240 0.45 637 0.13 307,383 62.21 6,798 1.38 908 0.18 2,825 0.57 540 0.11 896 0.18 11,087 2.19 505,215 494,128 723,934 69.79 Matabeleland North 1,425 0.65 111,609 51.03 955 0.44 1,060 0.48 489 0.22 91,306 41.74 5,356 2.45 751 0.34 4,249 1.94 826 0.38 703 0.32 6,594 2.93 225,323 218,729 371,701 60.62 Matabeleland South 1,331 0.76 80,365 45.89 970 0.55 1,035 0.59 416 0.24 82,511 47.12 3,997 2.28 702 0.40 2,673 1.53 503 0.29 612 0.35 4,772 2.65 179,887 175,115 300,768 59.81 Midlands 3,154 0.57 228,274 41.08 1,378 0.25 1,982 0.36 636 0.11 305,838 55.03 7,608 1.37 917 0.17 4,289 0.77 689 0.12 983 0.18 12,810 2.25 568,558 555,748 840,999 67.61 National Total 18,816 0.42 1,967,343 44.03 10,230 0.23 13,060 0.29 5,323 0.12 2,350,711 52.60 53,517 1.20 7,053 0.16 28,883 0.65 6,989 0.16 6,743 0.15 92,553 2.03 4,561,221 4,468,668 6,623,511 68.86

National Assembly The National Assembly has 210 single-member constituencies, the results of which are shown below. The remaining 70 seats comprises 60 seats which are reserved for women, six seats in each province, and 10 seats for youth, one seat in each province, which are filled based on the votes in the single-member constituencies using party-list proportional representation, distributed using the largest remainder method and the Hare quota.

On election day itself ZANU–PF won 136 seats and the CCC 73, with ZANU–PF retaining its rural base and the CCC capturing the urban vote. Voting in the Gutu West constituency was postponed to 11 November after one of the candidates died shortly before the elections. Following the parliamentary election in Gutu West, 65.24% of the constituency seats went to ZANU-PF and 34.76% of the constituency seats went to the CCC.

Senate

MPs who lost their seats +DefeatedPartyConstituencyDefeated byPartyStarman ChamisaCitizens Coalition for ChangeMbareMartin MatinyanyaZANU–PFTemba MliswaIndependentNortonRichard TsvangiraiCitizens Coalition for ChangeRaj ModiZANU–PFBulawayo SouthNicola WatsonCitizens Coalition for ChangeMthuli NcubeZANU–PFCowdray ParkPashor Raphael SibandaCitizens Coalition for Change

See also 2023 Zimbabwean by-elections

References