US Style of Democracy Triumphs in Zimbabwe

“Given everything that’s gone on during (the) whole election process, including some of the reports we’re getting now, it would be very hard to say that these are free and fair,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.

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Zimbabwe’s ruling party won parliamentary elections Friday but a furious opposition accused President Robert Mugabe of rigging the vote to extend his 25-year grip on power.

Citing official information that as many as 10 percent of voters were turned away at the polls and anecdotal reports that many of these were in districts believed to lean toward the opposition, Boucher told reporters: “This is just another sign that this whole process has been seriously tainted.

“The election process all along has been tilted in favor of the government. And there are many aspects to this, whether it’s the muzzling of the press or the intimidation of voters or the restrictions on opposition candidates.” he added.

“The United States calls on the government of Zimbabwe to recognize the legitimacy of the opposition and abandon policies designed to repress, crush and otherwise stifle expressions of differences,” Rice said in her statement.

An independent monitoring group, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, said up to 25% of those who tried to vote had been turned away because their names did not appear on the electoral roll or they failed to present proper identification. State electoral officials said about 10% of voters had been turned away from polling stations. Turnout was about 42%, compared with 48% in the 2000 general election.