MMV manual error could promote fraud, observers and party delegates
warned
The way the vote is recorded
during the count is a key to one of the most important methods for observers
and party delegates to prevent ballot box stuffing, but the manual for polling
station staff (MMVs, membros de mesa de voto) makes a major error in the
explanation which could encourage fraud.During the count, the polling station
president holds up each individual ballot paper and declares it “valid vote for
X” or invalid (nulo) or blank. As the votes are announced one by one, the third
and fourth scrutineers “note on the board [the black or white board in a school
classroom] or on paper the number of votes for each candidate and blank and
invalid votes”.The manual then shows how this is to be done, with tick marks
put into groups of five, then added up at the end:
The manual is posted HERE and this table is on page 25.
The manual is posted HERE and this table is on page 25.
But looking closely at
candidates B and C, the sums are wrong. For candidate B, there are 23 tick
marks but the total votes are given as 28, and for candidate C, there are 13
tick marks and only 12 votes listed.
In some places this will be
seen as a hint on how to shift votes. The largest party may have 400 or more
votes – which is 80 or more blocks of five ticks. It would be easy for the
scrutineers to over or under count the number of groups of five ticks. How many
observers and party delegates (poll watchers) bother to count the number of
groups of five?
Because of this error, it
becomes especially important for observers and delegates to check the final sum
and record it – taking a note or a photo of the blackboard or the scrutineer’s
sheet of paper. These totals recorded at the time of the count of individual
ballot papers are particularly important. This is because the manual specifies
that each of the three elections – president, national parliament, and
provincial assemblies – is counted separately and in that order, and only at
the very end (often well after midnight) are the final official results sheets
(editais) for the three elections written. That means that the blackboard with
the presidential results is erased to allow the parliamentary count to be
recorded, and it in turn is erased to allow the provincial assembly count. The
most common form of ballot box stuffing is not physical ballots, but to write
different numbers on the edital from the actual count, which is easy if
observers and party delegates are asleep or did not check (counting the groups
of 5) and record the numbers. Checking and recording becomes even more
important now because the error in the manual could encourage this type of
fraud.
MMV manual admits double registration
Polling station manual admits
double registration
People who registered more
than once remain multiple times on the register books, admits the manual for
polling station staff (MMVs, membros de mesa de voto). Multiple registrations
should have been removed by the technical secretariat STAE from the registers
(cadernos) during the period after the registration, but they were simply noted
and left on the register. The manual shows that multiple registration appear
with the observation “duplicado”.
The manual is posted HERE and the reference is on page 14.
Better queue management in new MMV manual
Long and sometimes unruly
queues are a problem at many polling stations, especially early in the morning
of voting day. Some small changes set out in the manual for polling station
staff (MMVs, membros de mesa de voto) could make queuing and voting run more
smoothly. The two main changes are that two MMVs, the third and fourth
scrutineers, are assigned to be permanently outside the polling station
managing the queue, and are given a copy of the register book (caderno). First
they sort the queue and move to a separate queue the people who vote first: the
ill, pregnant women, the elderly, people with disabilities, and electoral
staff. The electoral register of up to 800 voters is in alphabetical order by
first name, so the next step for each voter is to find where they are in the
register and tell them their order number. Thus, when the voter goes inside the
polling station, they tell the polling station staff their number in the
register, speeding up the voting process.
The third task is to watch the
polling station staff and admit people one at a time as soon as the previous
voter has been given their ballot papers.
The process should make voting
faster and move more smoothly.
The only issue is that the
third and fourth scrutineers are often the MMVs appointed by Renamo and MDM,
who will be outside the polling station rather than inside at the main table
watching their colleagues. The manual is posted HERE and these instructions are on page 13.
MMV candidates boycott training over food
Candidates for polling station
staff (membros de mesa de voto, MMV) in Morrumbala District, Zambezia, dropped
out of training Saturday (5 October) because they were dissatisfied with the
snack provided by the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE)
in the district. For the snack each candidate was given two biscuit packets and
a soda, our correspondents report. “Our colleagues in Tete receive 200 meticais
($3.30) a day and each has a decent snack. The same is not happening here in
Morrumbala,” he said. On the first day we had Frozy and a little cookie
package. We tolerated it until the second day,” he added. Another trainee told
the Bulletin said that the group will not resume training without their demands
being met. The trainees are employed at Sede, Samora Machel, and Airport
primary schools and the Industrial Institute. The District Election Commission
(CDE) in Morrumbala set up a team yesterday to pass each school to convince the
MMVs to resume training by promising to provide a decent snack. However, the
candidates rejected the proposal on the grounds that the agency should give
money to buy their own snack, our correspondents report.
Other elections news
Ossufo Momade no show
disappoints supporters
Renamo members and supporters
in Barue, Manica, were disappointed when their candidate for president, Ossufo
Momade, failed to visit. He was first was due to arrive at the district
headquarters on Friday (4 October) which was postponed until Saturday, but even
then he did not arrive, our correspondents report. Ossufo Momade arrived
Saturday in Chimoio and held a rally. Renamo political delegate in Barue,
Verdean Francisco Manivete, said the poor airfield runway conditions in that
district forced Ossufo to change his schedule.
Stoning, arrests and flag
theft in Niassa
Ten Renamo supporters were
stoned by Frelimo counterparts in Maua, Niassa, Friday morning (October 4) when
supporters of both parties met at the same residence during a door-to-door
campaign, leading to a brawl Several Frelimo supporters
were detained on the spot, our correspondents report. Also in Niassa, in
Muembe, the party flag was taken from the MDM Campaign Director Andissone
Silva’s residence. The theft follows various approaches by Frelimo to persuade
the campaign director to remove the flag from his house.
Two deaths, 33 injured and four
detained in the penultimate week
Two people died, 33 were
injured, 5 seriously, and 4 were arrested in connection with the election
campaign during the fifth and penultimate week This was the week with the
lowest number of deaths since the start of the election campaign. One death was
that of a child hit by a truck carrying Frelimo supporters in Massingir, Gaza,
on 3 October. One child was hit by a truck carrying Frelimo supporters (see
Bulletin 66). Another case occurred in Mossurize, Manica, where a Frelimo
member was murdered at his home by strangers. Most injuries were in Gaza, of
which 26 occurred 3 October when a truck carrying Frelimo supporters to Filipe
Nyusi’s Massingir rally rolled over. Three Frelimo supporters were injured in
fights with MDM and Renamo supporters in Manjacaze and Mabalane. Of the
remaining 3 injured, 2 occurred in Tete and 1 in Niassa on 30 September, and
all were targets of aggression. There were 3 arrests in
Milange on 4 October of Malawians campaigning for Renamo. On 3 October in
Dondo, Sofala, a Renamo supporter was arrested in the Mafarinha neighbourhood
allegedly for destroying Frelimo propaganda material. Since the campaign began
38 people have died, 225 have sustained injuries, and 48 have been detained.
Most deaths and injuries are from traffic accidents.
By Joseph Hanlon
Source: 2019 General
Elections - Mozambique Political Process Bulletin
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