The Center for Public Integrity (CIP) warns of the possible counting of 90,000 illegal votes in Zambezia province in favor of the ruling party, Frelimo, especially in districts where there is an equal number of voters, such as Alto Mulócuè and Gurué, in the October 11 elections.

The NGO recently said that in the same province, in Quelimane and Alto Mulócuè, around 10,000 ghost voters were registered.

The electoral offenses allegedly stemmed from intentional decisions by the district STAEs. This included allegations of alleged malfunctions of voter registration machines, the creation of ghost polling stations and the massive displacement of people (more than 90,000) to other polling stations outside their jurisdictions in order to register.

Zambézia seems to be the hub where the opposition is most visible and this has led to the establishment of few voter registration offices in the province. For example, in the 2018 elections, the districts of Alto Mulócuè and Gurué were heavily rigged and, that year, in the districts of Mocuba and Maganja da Costa, the ruling party won by a difference of a few hundred votes.

"There are verified reports that Frelimo has taken teachers from schools outside the municipality to register. In Morrumbala, 40 teachers living outside the municipal boundaries are being prosecuted for having registered illegally in the municipality," writes CIP.

This practice would have led to discrepancies between the electoral registration data between the district and national STAEs, according to the NGO. "Zambézia registered 4,272 more voters in Quelimane than the national STAE; 8,131 fewer in Morrumbala, eliminating a quarter of the entire voter list; and 7,756 more in Gurué."

"The National Statistics Institute says that there are 357,211 adults of voting age in the seven municipalities, but 406,716 have registered, - 114% of the possible number of voters. Where did the extra adults come from? The turnout at the registration brigades was only 88%. We estimate that a large number, 90,000 or more people crossed the border - physically or on lists - to register within the municipality," it reads.

To read the CIP article on ghost voter registration click hereand to read the article about the addition of 90,000 illegal voters click here. here.