Election Commission Announces Zanzibar’s Poll Results

According to Zanzibar’s election commission, Tanzania’s ruling party has won the presidential vote re-run in the semi-autonomous archipelago off the coast of Tanzania.

Jecha Salim Jecha, the head of the commission, announced on 21 March that President Ali Mohamed Shein of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi party has been re-elected with more than 91 percent of the votes.

Zanzibar’s main opposition party, the Civic United Front (CUF) and its ally CHADEMA boycotted the re-run, stating that it violates electoral laws and the constitution of Zanzibar. The electoral commission annulled results of the presidential election on October, which the CUF believes it won. The CUF has tried for years to win control of Zanzibar’s local government from Chama Cha Mapinduzi, narrowly losing the last election in 2010.