Tsvangirai brands Zimbabwe elections 'a huge farce'

Zimbabweans queued to cast their votes at a polling station in Harare. Credit: Reuters

Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF party dismissed claims it rigged elections and said that there was no way the election could have been manipulated.

ITV News Correspondent Neil Connery reports:

Rugare Gumbo, the party spokesman, said that his party is not worried about opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's statement that the election was a farce and that the outcome was compromised.

"It's not up to MDC T or Morgan Tsvangirai to accept or reject the election. It is the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission which will give us the result," said Gumbo.

Tsvangirai said Thursday that the election was "null and void" as it was characterised by numerous issues of voter manipulation.

There were widespread reports of voters being turned away at the polls.Polls closed on Wednesday night and the election commission is yet to announce results. They are expected by Monday at the latest.

Voters queued to cast their votes in Mbare on the outskirts of Harare. Credit: Facebook/Morgan Tsvangirai

The head of the African Union observer mission, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, said late Wednesday that reports of irregularities "will be investigated but have not yet been substantiated."

Solomon Zwana, head of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, said Thursday it has found a "wide range of problems" in the election and that the poll was compromised by a campaign to stop voters from casting ballots.The monitoring group says as many as 1 million out of more than 6 million eligible voters were not on voters' lists.