President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said democracy thrives when every voice is heard. He made the remarks after he extended the voting period to compensate for the delays experienced on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, at certain polling stations.

The delays primarily occurred in Bulawayo and Harare Metropolitan Provinces, which are recognised as opposition strongholds. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) stated that they encountered issues such as the unavailability of local government voting slips and the “unintended” swapping of logos between the ruling ZANU PF party and the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) on some ballot papers. These incidents led to the temporary suspension of voting.

Originally scheduled to begin at 7 am and conclude at 7 pm, the distribution of ballot papers was delayed, with some polling stations receiving them around 9 am and others as late as 11 pm. In response, President Mnangagwa issued Statutory Instrument 151 of 2023, extending the voting period by an additional day. Posting on his socials after the extension, Mnangagwa said: