At stake in this election:

• 93 seats in the Senate
• 210 seats in the House of Assembly

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE
• Head of Government: Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE
• Assembly: Zimbabwe has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate with 93 seats and the House of Assembly with 210 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The Executive President is elected by popular vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the Senate, 60 members are elected by popular vote to serve 5-year terms, 10 members are appointed by the President, 16 members are elected to serve 5-year terms, 2 members are designated to serve 5-year terms and 5 members are appointed by the President to serve 5-year terms*. In the House of Assembly 210 members are elected by popular vote to serve 5-year terms.**

* In the Senate, 60 members representing each province are elected by popular vote, 10 are provincial governors are nominated by the president, 16 seats are occupied by traditional chiefs elected by the Council of Chiefs, 2 seats are held by the president and deputy president of the Council of Chiefs, and 5 members are appointed by the president to represent special interests.

** A 2007 constitutional amendment increased the number of seats in the Senate from 66 to 93 and in the House from 150 to 210.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF)
  Leader: Robert MUGABE
  Seats won in this Senate election: 30
  Seats won in last Senate election: 43
  Seats won in this House of Assembly election: 97
  Seats won in last House of Assembly election: 78
• Party: Movement for Democratic Change - TSVANGIRAI faction (MDC-TSVANGIRAI faction)
  Leader: Morgan TSVANGIRAI
  Seats won in this Senate election: 24
  Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  Seats won in this House of Assembly election: 99
  Seats won in last House of Assembly election: 21
• Party: Movement for Democratic Change - MUTAMBARA faction (MDC-MUTAMBARA faction)***
  Leader: Arthur MUTAMBARA
  Seats won in this Senate election: 6
  Seats won in last Senate election: 7
  Seats won in this House of Assembly election: 10
  Seats won in last House of Assembly election: 20
• Party: United People's Party (UPP)
  Leader: Daniel SHUMBA
  Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  Seats won in last Senate election: N/A
  Seats won in this House of Assembly election: N/A
  Seats won in last House of Assembly election: 0
• Party: Zimbabwe People's Democratic Party (ZPDP)
  Leader: Isabel Shanangurai MADANGURE
  Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  Seats won in last Senate election: N/A
  Seats won in this House of Assembly election: N/A
  Seats won in last House of Assembly election: 0
• Party: Zimbabwe African National Union - Ndonga (ZANU-Ndonga)
  Leader: Wilson KUMBULA
  Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  Seats won in last Senate election: N/A
  Seats won in this House of Assembly election: N/A
  Seats won in last House of Assembly election: 0
• Party: Federal Democratic Union (FDU)
  Leader: Paul SIWELA
  Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  Seats won in last Senate election: N/A
  Seats won in this House of Assembly election: N/A
  Seats won in last House of Assembly election: 0

*** A united MDC party received 41 seats in the 2005 House of Assembly election before splitting into factions later in the year, prior to the Senate election.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 12,311,143 (July 2007 est.)
• Registered Voters: 5,612,464 (December 2007 )