Voting violence

By L.P and G.S.

Death tolls increase when Zimbabweans go to the polls

AS ZIMBABWEANS prepare to vote in presidential and parliamentary elections on July 31st, fears abound that violence will spike as it did during previous polls. Over the past 15 years, hostilities and fatalities have spiked whenever the country reaches for the ballot box. In 2008 Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won 51% of the parliamentary vote against President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF's 45%. However, Mr Tsvangirai opted out of the second round of voting after many dozen MDC campaigners were murdered. Instead, Mr Tsvangirai accepted the post of prime minister and the MDC joined an awkward coalition government with Zanu-PF, allowing Mr Mugabe, in charge since 1980, to extend his reign. Last May, in a rare moment of unity, Messrs Mugabe and Tsvangirai signed a new constitution that requires the security forces and government institutions like state media to be impartial. It was thought the elections should be held in September to allow time to implement the measures. But Mr Mugabe called the elections for July, hoping for an advantage. Troublingly, there have already been reports of harassment of opposition leaders and activists—but none so far mention widespread violence.