BULAWAYO – PICTURES of what appears to be ballot papers for Monday’s elections on the back seat of a Zanu PF parliamentary candidate’s car have re-ignited rigging fears.

The Toyota pick-up truck has a campaign poster of Tichawona Karumazondo, the incumbent MP for Maramba Pfungwe.

In two images that first appeared on Twitter, the vehicle appears to be parked on a street in Harare, and on the back seat is what looks like batches of ballot papers for the Presidential election.

Qhubani Moyo, a commissioner with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), claimed the picture was “fake”, but offered no evidence.

“Take note that ballot papers have been distributed to constituencies and are being transported to polling stations in the presence of agents of all contesting parties who accompany the distribution. They are transported in closed security vehicles and the boxes have no markings outside to show if they are presidential ballots or parliamentary or council,” Moyo said on Facebook.

He added: “Polling agents are allowed to sleep in polling stations if they so wish guarding the ballots together with ZRP and ZEC security. This picture of a Zanu PF vehicle purportedly carrying ballot papers is fake and coming from the certified purveyors of falsehoods and anarchy whose aim is to destabilise the smooth running of elections.”

Moyo claimed the picture had been originated by the former Sunday Mail editor, Edmund Kudzayi.

Kudzayi told ZimLive.com he had – like many Zimbabweans – come across the picture on Twitter.

“Qhubani Moyo is a discredited commissioner. You will recall that when I revealed the ballot paper design, his reaction was it’s fake. It was proven to be real. When I published pictures of ZEC chairperson Priscilla Chigumba wearing Emmerson Mnangagwa’s signature scarf, he came out again saying I had Photoshopped the pictures. A few days later the evidence proved him to be a liar and Chigumba publicly admitted the images were real,” Kudzayi hit back.

“So when you ask me to respond to a liar, what do you want me to say? He is not a credible voice and I will not be drawn into a mudfight with a pig, he loves it.”

The first image was posted on Twitter by @rngwenya93 at 4.15PM on Friday, eliciting a quick response from some Twitter users who said there was a reflection and it could be a Photoshop job.

But within minutes, another image of the same vehicle – this one showing the car seats – was posted by @Clyde7n. Harare residents quickly identified the car to be parked on 2nd Street and Jason Moyo near the Old Mutual Building.

With the authenticity of the picture established, some Twitter users suggested the ballot papers shown were probably samples, which were issued to political parties by ZEC.

Ballot papers? … The pictures sending Zimbabwe Twitter into a meltdown

A new picture emerged showing the backseat of another vehicle with a sample ballot paper, and piles of printed papers wrapped in plastic. It was not clear when those piles also contained samples because it was not visible from the image.

Plausible explanation? … What if the MP printed piles of sample ballot paper to show his supporters?

The emergence of what appears to be ballot papers on the same day that ZEC began its distribution and just over 24 hours before campaigning closes at midnight on Saturday will alarm the opposition parties who claim there is a plot to rig the elections.