HARARE, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Over 50 percent of Zimbabwe's security forces failed to cast their ballots in a two-day early vote because of delays in the printing house, a government minister said Thursday.
Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa told reporters that only 29,000 police officers, soldiers and other officials, out of an estimated 69,000, managed to vote in the special vote that ended Monday.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) acknowledged the chaos, saying it will give the security personnel a second chance -- to vote as the general public do on July 31. But the decision remains questionable as they might be assigned on duty far from the districts they are registered to vote.
ZEC chairperson Rita Makarau said she has spoken to the country's police chief, urging him to deploy police officers in such a way that they will be in their wards of their registration to perform duties so that they are able to vote.
"We are making efforts to make sure that this time around we do not have these same problems," she said.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who will contest Mugabe in the upcoming poll, said he is "disappointed in ZEC" for failing to cope with the initially 87,000 applicants for the early voting.
"If ZEC cannot handle 87,000 voters, how will it handle 6 million voters on July 31?" the prime minister asked before his supporters in the campaign rallies.
Zimbabweans will go to the polls on July 31 to choose a president, more than 200 National Assembly members, and nearly 2, 000 local councilors. Mugabe and Tsvangirai remain the leading candidates for the presidency.
After the country's last elections in 2008, which were marred by disputes, violence, and allegations of vote-rigging and intimidation, Mugabe and Tsvangirai formed a bickering unity government.
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