Take your choice: hi-tech or low-tech elections; fast or slow courts. All are on tap in Africa’s election season, which started in Ghana last December, continued in Kenya on 4 March and moving to Zimbabwe this month with a referendum on a new constitution, to be followed in mid-year by national elections.

Judicial reforms in Ghana and Kenya encouraged politicians to trust the courts. All judges in Zimbabwe have long been appointed by President Robert Mugabe and his adherents. Yet he and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai agreed on Judge Rita Makarau to head the electoral commisson.

Ghana and Kenya experimented with technology, but failures in the biometric registration systems suggested conspiracy to some, mismanagement to others. The instant transmission of polling station results to the national tallying centre – tested in Kenya but not in Ghana – had offered a safeguard against tampering. When it failed, Raila Odinga’s supporters cried foul.

The announced losers – Odinga and, in Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo – are disputing the results. Kenya’s Supreme Court will have just two weeks to adjudicate; Ghana’s may take months. This has not tempered political mistrust or partisan rhetoric. But with these reforms, more fraudsters can be exposed and the system is becoming more accountable. However, the credibility of the vote is down to the political will of the participants. That question looms largest in Zimbabwe.