Zimbabwe - Rejecting Fraud Claims, Court Upholds Presidential Election - NYTimes.com Zimbabwe's highest court on Tuesday threw out a legal challenge by the main opposition party charging that the July 31 elections won by President Robert Mugabe were marred by fraud. Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, head of the Constitutional Court, dismissed the challenge, saying that the court found that the elections had been free and fair. The ruling clears the way for Mr. Mugabe's inauguration on Thursday. Mr. Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980, appoints the nation's judges, who frequently rule in his favor. The opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had sought to withdraw his legal challenge, saying the state refused to hand over polling data that he needed as evidence. But the court considered the challenge anyway. Mr. Tsvangirai charged that up to a million eligible voters of the 6.4 million registered were unable to cast their ballots. In a separate ruling made available Tuesday, the lower Electoral Court dismissed Mr. Tsvangirai's demands for poll data, saying the application was not filed in reasonable time to allow for the opening of more than 9,000 ballot boxes countrywide and to collate other details.