Voter Registration Begins
The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) mobile voter registration drive begins today, November 9.
In order to cover all of the 8,999 registration centres in the country the exercise has been divided into four phases. Each registration centre will be open for 7 days in a particular phase. You can find out when centres will be open in your areas by visiting www.eczovr.org/deployment.
The exercise had been due to commence on October 28, but was pushed back until November 9. Instead of concluding on November 30 as originally planned, the exercise will now finish on December 12.
The ECZ’s Chief Electoral Officer Kryticous Nshindano last month revealed that the Commission had recorded 130,000 pre-registrations online. The process is intended to speed up the process of voter registration. However, those who have pre-registered will still need to present themselves at a registration card in the upcoming exercise if they wish to complete the registration and obtain a new voters card. The ECZ has stated that current voters cards will not be valid in the 2021 general elections and it is therefore necessary for every eligible Zambian to re-register.
Meanwhile, the government has said it will not extend the mobile issuance of the National Registration Cards (NRCs). Citizens without an NRC have been advised to visit their district officers where the cards can still be issued, even after the mobile exercise has come to an end.
A number of opposition parties and civil society organisations have repeatedly sounded the alarm over the ECZ’s plans to register the whole country, an estimated nine million voters, in a 30-day period.
Musician Pilato and other citizens have sought a judicial review into the plans, which has since been dismissed by the High Court for bearing similarities to a case brought by the UPND.
“The six million plus voters were registered over a period of years…What makes you think that you will register every qualified Zambian within 30 days? ECZ should guard itself against becoming the enemy institution of our people. They must decide which side of history they want to fall. We have a duty to defend the integrity and dignity of our institutions especially those that define our democracy. We will stand up to ECZ and we will resist every attempt to undermine the power of the vote,” Pilato was quoted as stating.
Fellow activist and Alliance for Community Action (ACA) Executive Director Laura Miti also weighed in on the ECZ's drive to re-register everyone stating, “It really makes no logical, logistical or democratic sense this move and they can’t seem to explain themselves convincingly.”
UPND leader Hichilema has also expressed concern stating, “The number of days allocated for registration of voters; we disagree on that. The law says there should be continuous voter registration.”
He has challenged that the Electoral Process Act does not allow the removal of the existing six million registered voters.