ECZ Extends Voter Registration By 4 Days

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has extended the voter registration exercise by four days.

Following an announcement by the ECZ on Tuesday the exercise is scheduled to resume on Thursday December 17 and will continue for four days up until midnight on Sunday December 20.

This comes after the current exercise, which began on November 9, concluded on December 12 amid widespread calls for an extension.

With the four extra days allocated the ECZ plans to give special attention to civic centres in all 116 districts and registration centres with high numbers of eligible voters. 

To date the ECZ has registered 6,407,752 voters. However, the target for the initial exercise was a register of nine million.

Among those to have called for a longer period for voter registration was the Chapter One Foundation. According to the group 30 days was not long enough to effectively capture Zambia’s nine million eligible voters and presented “an unwarranted barrier for voters.” 

“As Zambia nears elections set for August 2021, it is imperative that a free and fair electoral process is promoted; one that is accessible to all potential voters. The decision by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to conduct voter registration for a period of only 30 days serves as an unwarranted barrier for voters, as the registration period is not sufficient for the ECZ to effectively capture all 9 million eligible voters in the country,” the group previously cautioned. 

Chapter One has also raised concerns regarding the mobile National Registration Card (NRC) issuance exercise that has been limited to certain areas of the country. According to Chapter One the move could potentially disenfranchise eligible voters.

Opposition and civil society have also challenged the legality of the process and the creation of a new voters register on the basis that it could disenfranchise large numbers of citizens on the existing register.