[JURIST] Zimbabwean police have launched investigations into at least 100 cases of alleged fraud in the March 29 contested presidential election [JURIST report], officials said Wednesday. Police have arrested voters accused of voting multiple times in the election, as well as several Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) [official website] officials accused of accepting bribes to miscount votes in favor of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) candidate Morgan Tsvangirai [BBC profile]. The government of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] has pledged to root out the alleged fraud, but opposition supporters say the allegations are an attempt by Mugabe to hold onto power. AFP has more.

Official results of the presidential race have long been delayed, but a government official told CNN Wednesday that Tsvangirai had won 47 percent of the presidential vote and Mugabe had won 43 percent, forcing a runoff election [CNN report]. An MDC spokesman rejected the need for a runoff [AP report], saying that only a rigged election would produce the results that would necessitate one. Violence has wracked the country since the March election, with frequent clashes between opposition forces and government supporters. Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] Wednesday accused the Zimbabwean army of working with the ruling party [HRW report] to detain, torture, and murder political opponents, and urged the African Union and the UN Security Council to push for an end to the violence. AP has more.

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