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ZANU-PF accused of printing millions of extra ballot

Zimbabwe has been accused of printing millions of surplus ballot papers, raising the risk of vote-rigging in the presidential and legislative elections on Saturday.

Tendai Biti, secretary-general of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said that leaked documents from the government's security printers showed 9 million ballot papers were ordered for the 5.9 million people registered to vote.

Correspondence from Fidelity Printers, producers of the nation's banknotes, also showed 600,000 postal ballot papers were requisitioned for a few thousand soldiers, police and civil servants away from their home districts and for diplomats and their families abroad, he said.

At least 4 million Zimbabweans living abroad, mostly fugitives from the nation's economic meltdown and political exiles, are not permitted to vote by mail. Biti feared that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe already had victory "in the bag."

"The credibility gap will be so huge. If he steals the election he will get a temporary reprieve, but that will guarantee him a dishonorable if not bloody exit. Either way he's in a no-win situation," Biti said.

Opposition groups have also opposed last-minute changes to voting procedures allowing police a supervisory role inside polling stations.
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