Carter Centre concerned about accuracy and transparency of recent poll

Despite overall approval of Mozambique's recent general election, the US-based Carter Centre has expressed concerns over transparency. In a 'post election' statement released earlier this week, the pro-democracy, founded by former US president Jimmy Carter, said that while the election results were not in question, the National Elections Commission had not administered a fair and transparent poll in all parts of the country. "The centre has serious unanswered questions about the complete accuracy of the results and the lack of transparency in the CNE's final tabulation. For example, the results did not include a detailed district-by-district map, and the CNE has poorly explained the reasons for rejected, stolen or missing tally sheets. Despite assurances to observers that they would be granted full access to a detailed record, listing the reasons for rejected polling station tally sheets, this information has not been made available," the statement said. Prior to the 1-2 December vote in 2004, controversy erupted between monitors and the CNE over access to the final stages of the vote count, during which contested ballots could be reconsidered. Election observers warned that the results of entire polling stations could be rejected by the CNE if they were deemed irregular. While the Carter observer mission welcomed the Constitutional Council's call for greater electoral transparency, it remained concerned over issues that had not received sufficient attention from the council. These included the "the abuse of public resources by political parties during the campaigns; acceptance of the delayed results from the electoral bodies, but no such flexibility being accorded to political parties with late election petitions; and the reluctance of some district level electoral bodies to receive party complaints". According to the centre's monitors, evidence of serious irregularities in the polling process came to light in several provinces: in the Tete provincial districts of Changara, Chifunde, and Tsangano, as well as in the Niassa districts of Metarica and Marrupa, and the Gaza district of Chicualacuala, voter turnout percentages were suspiciously high and, in some cases, impossibly high (more than 100 percent), leading to the conclusion that ballot stuffing occurred at some of those polling stations. The province of Tete had the highest voter turnout nationwide (56.25 percent), contrasting with a national rate of 36.4 percent, the statement said. The centre was also alarmed by the apparent lack of interest in the tabulation of results shown by non-represented political parties and local observers. "Given the concerns about the credibility of previous election results, the centre expected these groups might have been more assertive about the right to a transparently conducted exercise," it commented. Although Mozambicans had endorsed the ruling party, FRELIMO and its presidential candidate, Armando Guebuza, the centre remained concerned that "enduring problems with the voter register, evidence of serious irregularities and fraud during polling in several provinces, and inadequate transparency of the tabulation process will continue to cast a shadow over Mozambique's democracy".