ZIM WATCH:Militias force some to vote for Zimbabwe's Mugabe

HARARE-Many Zimbabweans boycotted their one candidate-election on Friday but witnesses and monitors said government militias forced people to vote for 84-year-old President Robert Mugabe in some areas.The vote, held despite a storm of condemnation from inside and outside Africa, was denounced as a sham by Western powers and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.Tsvangirai, who won the first round on March 29, pulled out of the poll a week ago and took refuge in the Dutch embassy because of state-backed violence he said had killed almost 90 of his supporters.He told a news conference millions of people were staying away from the polls despite intimidation."What is happening today is not an election. It is an exercise in mass intimidation with people all over the country being forced to vote," Tsvangirai said.A witness in Chitungwiza town, south of Harare, told Reuters voters were forced to hand the serial number of their ballot paper and their identity details to an official from Mugabe's ZANU-PF party so he could see how they voted.The Zimbabwe Crisis Coalition rights group said village heads had "assisted" teachers to vote in some rural areas after forcing them to declare they were illiterate.Turnout was low in urban areas where Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is traditionally strong. But it was not clear how many voters went to the polls in rural districts that are difficult for independent journalists to visit.
To read more go to:
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL2656310820080627
As in the days of Noah....