Opposition Youths Join Call For Extended Voter Registration

Youth members of the United Party for National Development (UPND) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) have joined the call for the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to extend the voter registration period, which is due to end tomorrow.

At a joint UPND-NDC press conference in Lusaka this morning, youth leaders from the two parties urged the ECZ to extend the registration exercise so that no Zambian is disenfranchised.

UPND youth chair for Lusaka Province Anderson Band warned that young people would take to the streets if they were blocked from being able to vote. 

“We are not going to fold our hands and pretend that all is well. If we see that most of our youths are disadvantaged by not acquiring the voters’ cards, we are going to take to the streets with or without a police permit or we are going to take them to court and ensure that all Zambians are issued with voters’ cards so that they can vote in the forthcoming general elections so that they are able to take part in the selection of their leaders”. 

“The ECZ should not disenfranchise us-they have no right to do that. It is supposed to be a continuous process…if you feel like acquiring a voters’ card, you are supposed to be issued with one,” Banda added.

The statement follows revelations by the UPND National Management Committee that the ECZ’s elections office was empty on Thursday afternoon. A delegation from the party visited the offices to negotiate for an extension, but to no avail.

The ECZ has promised to capture between 8.5 and 9 million Zambian voters in just 33 days, with the registration period coming to an end on December 12. Based on current projections, the Commission would be lucky to achieve half of that.