Mugabe rival condemns vote plans

Zanu-PF supporters deny claims of rigging

Zimbabwe's opposition leader has condemned plans to count presidential ballots centrally, saying this will help rig the 29 March election.

"I will not be part of an illegal process," said Morgan Tsvangirai, demanding that all votes be counted at polling stations.

He also said there were many thousands of false names on the voters' roll.

President Robert Mugabe's government has dismissed previous claims that the polls would be rigged.

Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change has also gone to court after President Mugabe changed an election law less than two weeks before polls.

OPPOSITION POLL CONCERNS Presidential votes counted centrally Tens of thousands of "ghost voters" Police allowed inside polling stations More polling stations in rural areas State media bias Food aid only given to Zanu-PF supporters Chiefs used to campaign for Zanu-PF Campaign in pictures

On Monday, Mr Mugabe issued a decree to allow police officers into polling stations - just two months after they were banned to ensure voting would be secret.

Mr Mugabe said the police could be allowed to help disabled people vote.

But a spokesman said the police could be used to make people vote for Mr Mugabe.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network said the move reversed electoral reforms made in January, passed after consultations with the opposition. This stipulated that police officers had to remain at least 100 metres away from polling stations.

"Voters requiring assistance to cast their ballots should be able to designate a person of their choice to help them mark their ballot," ZESN chairperson Noel Kututwa told the privately owned Financial Gazette newspaper.

'Joke'

"Mugabe is trying to find ways to manipulate the electoral outcome," MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told the BBC.

"We are really concerned at this last-minute change."

Tsvangirai accused Mugabe of acting like player and referee

He said voters could be afraid of the police and feel pressured to cast their ballots for Mr Mugabe in their presence.

"One of the players is now acting like a referee and pretending to be a competitor. Are we really in an election or are we in a contest already decided by one man?" Mr Tsvangirai asked.

He said that independent analysis of the voters' roll in 28 rural constituencies had found 90,000 unaccounted voters, according to the AFP news agency.

"You can imagine with 210 constituencies what's the figure of the people that have been identified as registered but do not exist," he said.

The results of the parliamentary and local elections are to be announced at polling stations.

It is feared that the vote could be manipulated in transit between polling stations and a central command centre for the presidential race.

Campaigning for the 29 March general elections has been relatively peaceful so far but lobby group Human Rights Watch on Wednesday said the poll would be deeply flawed.

Such fears were dismissed by Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga, who said HRW was biased against Zimbabwe.

"We are not surprised at all by these kind of reports, actually they are becoming a joke," he told the BBC.

ZESN has noted that there are far fewer polling stations in urban areas, seen as pro-opposition, than in rural areas, where support for Mr Mugabe is strongest.

The opposition say they have found evidence of dead people registered to vote including a former minister who died 30 years ago.

Western observers and the MDC said that Zimbabwe's recent elections have not been free and fair, but African observers have been less critical.