At the same time, ordinary citizens are forced to attend ZANU-PF rallies in Harare and other cities and undergo all-night indoctrination sessions known as pungwes in the countryside. Zimbabwe's security chiefs have publicly ruled out the prospect of security sector reform and indicated that they would refuse to accept Tsvangirai as president. 17.15 (18.15) Andrew Harding says that if you thought the election campaign was bitter and polarising, then wait for the aftermath. The AU and SADC may query and investigate individual incidents, but at this stage there is no indication that they will find grounds to challenge the overall results of the election. All of which leaves Britain, the European Union, the United States and others in something of a pickle. Having been barred from sending in their own election monitoring teams, they have effectively sub-contracted their judgement to Sadc. If they are seriously unhappy with the outcome, the West can dangle the threat of more sanctions in front of Mr Mugabe. But he has spent five years using those sanctions as a highly effective propaganda tool at home - even at the age of 89 he remains a consummate and ruthless political operator. And there is a discernable sense that much of the outside world - Britain and a handful of other countries apart - has simply grown tired of Zimbabwe's democratic allergies and would rather grudgingly accept a flawed result than go through another five years of haggling and misery. 16.57 (17.57) Britain has said it is concerned Zimbabwe had not enacted electoral reform. A Foreign Office spokesman has said: We are also concerned by the late publication of the electoral roll. Any judgement on the credibility of elections will need to take these factors into account. Zimbabweans check election results posted outside a polling station in Mbare, Harare 16.45 (17.45) The problem now facing the MDC is how to proceed. Do they call for protests, or do they take their allegations of vote rigging to the courts? One Zimbabwean activist told The Telegraph: If the MDC had any guts they would go onto the streets, as clearly the courts are stuffed with political appointees. But I bet they won't. I agree with many that they will simply go to court, and the court cases will drag on and on for another whole parliament - like those 32 cases of the Zanu PF MPs who used violence, torture and vote rigging in 2000. Those cases were never concluded, and even those that were found guilty still remained in parliament, passing or blocking laws until 2005. 16.15 (17.15) Roy Bennett, a veteran of the Movement for Demoratic Change, has called for a mass campaign of passive resistance. There needs to be resistance against this theft. I'm talking about people completely shutting the country down - don't pay any bills, don't attend work, just bring the country to a standstill. 16.12 (17.12) Telegraph TV has put together a package, focusing on the moment Tsvangirai hit out at the electoral fraud, declaring the poll "null and void." 16.08 (17.08) Aislinn Laing confirms that there is a pickup truck with around 12 uniformed police officers in it, parked on the corner next to the MDC's headquarters. "Those are the ones that will beat people if there's any trouble," my taxi driver told me. Harvest House, scene of Mr Tsvangirai's earlier media briefing in which he described the elections as a "huge farce," was closed up, iron gates pulled over its doors. In recent days, there have been people milling around the MDC headquarters or standing in its shabby corridors and offices. Today, there was no one to be seen. Down the road in Africa Unity Square, overlooked by the majestic Meikles hotel, the Anglican St Mary's church and the headquarters of several major companies, a group of riot police with helmets and batons were standing taking instructions from a senior officer. So far, we've heard no reports that their services have been required. In the run-up to elections, possibly every fourth or fifth person you saw on the street was wearing a red t-shirt to show their support for the Movement for Democratic Change, or a baseball cap or t-shirt bearing the Zimbabwean flag colours and the insignia of Zanu PF, or its leader Robert Mugabe's signature. Today, I could not see a single person. Morgan Tsvangirai gestures during a media briefing in Harare 15.46 (16.46) Peta Thornycroft has interviewed a senior Zimbabwean businessman who says they had expected a rigged vote and warned the MDC not to participate in the election. The MDC should never have contested elections without the voters roll in advance. We were all telling them this for ages," he said. He accused Mr Tsvangirai's party of getting too comfortable in government after the signing of a coalition agreement over disputed election five years ago. "The MDC must also take some blame for this, as they did not do very well in the last few years, they sat back, and were complacent," he said. And Zanu PF worked hard moving voters around and the MDC could not find this out because they did not have the voters roll. Zimbabwe now faces a bleak future, he added. This result will consign us to being a second rate country for a long while. We will have no money to do anything," he said. This country is now so desperately short of cash I am sure that not all civil servants will be paid this month. Voters look at posted results outside a polling station in Harare on Thursday 15.42 (16.42) Tiseke Kasambala, from Human Rights Watch, repeats what has been said throughout the day - there are major flaws with this election. We've spent weeks investigating the run-up to the poll as well as informally watching the voting, and what we saw supports wider concerns raised today by local monitors. They report that a high number of "ghost" or duplicate voters were present on the voters" roll and that large numbers of people were unfairly turned away from polling stations. In the run-up to election day, we documented major flaws in the electoral process, including highly partisan statements by high-ranking members of the security forces, restrictions on and intimidation of journalists and civil society activists, and a skewed voter registration process that made it difficult for those perceived to be opposition supporters to register. These flaws and irregularities call into question the credibility and fairness of the election. Serious allegations like these should be fully and independently investigated before the electoral authorities declare an outcome. 15.38 (16.38) Mugabe's Zanu PF, for their part, have hailed the elections. "Everything was free and fair," Saviour Kasukuwere, a politburo member of Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front party, told Bloomberg. The results "are smelling very good" for Zanu-PF, he said. 15.24 (16.24) Mr Coltart, who has been well-respected across the board for his efforts to revitalise Zimbabwe's historically prized education system, said he has been geuninely surprised by the news emerging in the past 24 hours. I could not understand how Robert Mugabe could be so confident in his press conference on Tuesday when his main opponent Morgan Tsvangirai had the the day before held one of the biggest political rallies ever in his backyard. I was astounded to read in the Herald yesterday that Zanu PF were looking at obtaining a 2/3 majority in parliament which defied all reasonable projections. It is now clear why there was this confidence. Mr Coltart, a member of the smaller MDC party which challenged that of Mr Tsvangirai, lost his seat by 19 votes to the MDC T's Thabitha Khumalo. "Whilst I obviously congratulate her and wish her well and stress that my comments are not directed against her, the entire election was fraught with serious irregularities," he said. 14.49 (15.49) Aislinn Laing has been speaking to David Coltart, the MDC's candidate in Bulawayo East, as well as the Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister, confirms that he has lost his parliamentary seat. He also reports that Tendai Biti, the Zimbabwe finance minister, as well as presidency minister Jameson Timba, have lost seats. He says: It appears their seats were targeted for special attention. Zimbabwe has been subjected to electoral fraud on a massive scale. 14.30 (15.30) Peta Thornycroft, who is also in Zimbabwe for The Telegraph, claims that MDC lawyers have been instructed to prepare an urgent High Court application seeking to declare elections invalid. 13.54 (14.54) Andrew Harding of the BBC has interviewed the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace. Here's what they had to say: 13.20 (14.20) The 15-member southern African regional bloc SADC will deliver its verdict on Zimbabwe's tightly-fought elections on Friday, an official said. "Tomorrow at 12 noon, SADC is expected to release its preliminary report on the 2013 Zimbabwe harmonised elections," said Leefa Martin-Penehupifo, a spokeswoman for the bloc which has been a key mediator in the Zimbabwe crisis. 13.00 (14.00) Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission says counting has been completed. "The commission has received reports that the counting has been completed at polling station level and collation has commenced at ward and constituency level," Rita Makarau, ZEC chairman said. 12.43 (13.43) One Twitter user has pointed out the number of pensioners on the electoral - presumably with a touch of tongue in cheek. The average life expectancy in Zimbabwe is 51 according to the World Bank. 12.25 (13.25) Tiseke Kasambala, the Southern Africa director for Human Rights Watch, has told us there were strong signs that the vote had not been carried out correctly. It's still too early to come to a proper conclusion.. But when you look at the prevailing human rights conditions in Zimbabwe, coupled with reports we are receiving on the ground, then there is real cause for concern. Ms Kasambala told The Daily Telegraph she had "very credible reports" of irregularities in voting, such as people being turned away from voting or finding their names were not included on the electoral register. "There are a whole raft of issues that make it very difficult to believe the people of Zimbabwe freely expressed their choices," she said. 11.55 (12.55) More on the riot police near the MDC offices, an AFP reporter claims about 20 officers in two anti-riot trucks were seen near the office in downtown Harare. 11.50 (12.50) With the government threatening to arrest anyone who posts preliminary results on Twitter, and an official outcome not due to be announced until August 5, Zimbabwean officials abroad are as much in the dark as anyone. One Zimbabwean diplomat, working in Africa, told The Telegraph: We are still waiting for the results, and just following as much as we can on social media. But I was so happy that yesterday was peaceful - I just hope it remains like that. 11.40 (12.40) There are unconfirmed reports that riot police have been deployed near the office of Tsvangirai's MDC party. We will try to find out more. 11.10 (12.10) Morgan Tsvangirai has now hit out at the election, calling it a "huge farce." This has been a huge farce... In our view, that election is null and void. 11.00 (12.00) Aislinn Laing has an update from the streets of Harare. As you would expect, there's fevered speculation in Harare this morning and reports (all unsubstantiated and most likely wrong) of riot police on the streets and the loss of parliamentary seats for Morgan Tsvangirai and his key lieutenant Tendai Biti.