The Constitutional Council has rejected an appeal by the Renamo party asking for the annulment of the decision of the National Electoral Commission (CNE) 76/CNE/2024 which maintains, for the general elections of October 9, the ballot boxes used in the local elections of October 11, 2023.

CNE approves ballot boxes where multiple ballots can be inserted simultaneously

Renamo believes that the slots in the ballot boxes in question make it possible for more than one ballot paper to be inserted at the same time, leading to fraud.

"These slots [in the ballot boxes for the 2023 local elections] had been eliminated by the law [passed in August] given that they are subject to constant fraud due to their openness and the ability to insert several ballots. We hope that the Constitutional Council will take this into account when deciding to do so," explained Marciel Macome, Renamo's spokesman.

In ruling 11/CC/2024 of September 26, the CC explains that the new electoral law approved does not apply to activities that have already begun, which are governed, at the time of the challenge, by the previous law, until the procedures have been exhausted.

The CC argues that, in addition to the "financial obstacles" and the time it takes for the new law to come into force, the purchase and delivery of new ballot boxes could jeopardize the "systematic and harmonious" nature of the entire electoral process.