Organization : Electoral Commission of Zambia
Facility : General Election
Country : Zambia
Notification/ Home Page : http://www.elections.org.zm/index.php
General Election TimeTable :
15 May 25 May Inspection of Provisional Register of Voters
16 May 10 Aug Campaign Period
Related : Electoral Commission of Zambia Voting Procedure : www.electionin.org/411.html
30 May 3 Jun Nominations Days – Presidential Election
30 May Nomination Day – Mayors and Council Chairperson’s Election
31 May Nomination Day – National Assembly & Local Government Elections
31 July Certification of Register of Voters
11 Aug Poll Day (06:00-18:00)
The inspection period for the 2016 Provisional Register of Voters ended at 17:00 on 25 May, 2016.
Elections :
** Zambia is a multi-party democracy and conducts elections every 5 years to choose the President, Members of Parliament and Councillors on the basis of universal adult suffrage.
** The elections to the three offices usually take place on the same day and are therefore referred to as tripartite elections.
** The last tripartite elections were held on 20th September 2011. In the period between the tripartite elections, the ECZ conducts by-elections as and when vacancies occur for Members of Parliament and Councillors.
** A person can participate in elections as a voter, a candidate, an election official or monitor/observer.
** Candidates in the elections are either sponsored by political parties or contest as independent candidates.
** The winning candidate in these elections is determined on the basis of a simple majority vote.
** This is referred to as the first-past-the post (FPTP) electoral system which Zambia has used since its independence in 1964.
** All elections in Zambia open to monitoring and observation by local and international organisations respectively upon obtaining the necessary accreditation.
** The observers and monitors express their opinions on the conduct of each election through reports that they issue at the end of their missions.
Political Parties and Candidates :
** Political parties and their candidates are among the key stakeholders in the Electoral Process.
** It is the role of political parties and candidates to adhere to the Electoral Code of Conduct which they should subscribe through the Declaration of Compliance to the Electoral Code of Conduct (Form ECC1).
** A candidate is a person – contesting an election (sponsored or independent).
** An independent candidate is a person not sponsored by a political party.
Political parties and candidates must take note of the following :
** There will be two election agents per constituency/ward;
** There will be two polling agents accredited to a polling station but only one polling agent at a time will be allowed inside a polling station.
** There will be officials from a political party accredited to a constituency.
** These will have to be deployed evenly to avoid overcrowding certain polling stations that are easily reachable.
** The role of accredited party officials is to monitor and not to interfere with the running of elections;
** The deadline for accreditation will be determined by the Commission
** The Commission will prescribe the number of officials from a political party to witness the totalling.
Election Agents :
** An election agent represents the interests of a candidate in a constituency or ward during an election.
** A candidate shall appoint two election agents in a constituency or ward.
** A candidate may revoke the appointment of an election agent at any time, or an election agent may resign the appointment, by giving written notice to the candidate.
** The candidate shall then notify the Returning Officer in writing that the election agent has ceased to act as such, and if a replacement has been appointed, will state in the notice the full name and address of the new election agent.
** An election agent must take oath/affirmation on a date to be advised by the RO.
Polling Agents :
** A polling agent represents the interests of a candidate in a polling station during an election.
** A candidate or an election agent may appoint two polling agents for each polling station in the constituency/ward that the candidate is contesting the election.
** A candidate or election agent should prepare and submit to the Returning Officer a list of polling agents so appointed.
** Such appointments and the submission of the list of polling agents must take place at least four days before polling day.
** The polling agents must take oath/affirmation