Zimbabweans wait to cast their votes in presidential and parliamentary elections in Harare, Wednesday, July, 31. One enormous and largely invisible voter cohort that will not be represented are the some 4 million Zimbabwe expats that have left for political or economic reasons in recent decades.

Mr. Mugabe made light of protests by Morgan Tsvangirai, the main challenger, who says the elections are rigged by Mugabe henchmen and that he is running for office "with a heavy heart," given evidence of fraud.
Mr. Tsangirai's claims were echoed in a new report by the International Crisis Group on the eve of voting that stated bluntly, "Conditions for a free and fair vote do not exist" in Zimbabwe.