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Bulawayo High Court
One Ncube v Tawanda Mugara N.O. and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and Norman Ndebele
HB 248/23
Case Details
Court
Bulawayo High Court
Date
14 December 2023
Citation
HB 248/23
Neutral Citation
[2023] ZWHB 248
Outcome
unknown
Case Type
Petition
Bench
Presiding
Ndlovu J
Full Bench
Ndlovu J
Areas of Law
Electoral LawElection Petitions
Keywords
tied electionrunoff by-electioncoin tosselection challengeward election
Tags
election petitionlocal authority electiontie votecoin toss
legislation
Statutes Cited
- {'**statute_name**': 'Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13]', '**chapter**': 'Chapter 2:13', '**section**': '129(1)', '**subsection**': '(1)', '**treatment**': 'interpreted / quoted', '**for_proposition**': 'Prescribes a runoff by-election where votes are tied; court quoted to show the statutorily correct tie-breaker mechanism.', '**interpretation**': 'Literal – a tie triggers a runoff, not a coin-toss.', '**verbatim**': '“If after the counting of votes has been completed an equality of votes is found to exist between two or more candidates … the Chief Elections Officer shall forthwith declare that a runoff by-election shall be held …”'}
- {'**statute_name**': 'Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13]', '**chapter**': 'Chapter 2:13', '**section**': '168', '**subsection**': '(2)', '**treatment**': 'applied', '**for_proposition**': 'Jurisdictional time-bar – election petition must be presented “within fourteen days after the end of the period of the election”.', '**interpretation**': 'Strict calendar counting; day 14 expired 7 September 2023, filing on 8 September 2023 is out of time and fatal.', '**verbatim**': '“An election petition shall be presented within fourteen days after the end of the period of the election to which it relates …”\n### OTHER AUTHORITIES\nNo textbooks, journal articles, foreign cases or other secondary sources were invoked.\n### CITATION NETWORK'}
ai analysis
Case Summary
Key Issues
- {"issue_text":"Whether the election petition was filed within the statutory time limit","issue_type":"procedural","dispositive":"yes","related_facts":"Petition filed 08 September 2023, deadline 07 September 2023"}
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background
Facts of the Case
Background
The petitioner challenged a local authority election for Ward 28 in Nkayi South Constituency where the election ended in a tie vote. The Ward Elections Officer broke the tie by tossing a coin, declaring the 3rd respondent the winner. The petitioner filed an election petition one day late.
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