EISA Regional Observer Mission to the Zambia 2006 Tripartite Elections

Press Release

2 October 2006

In response to an invitation extended by the Electoral Commission of Zambia, EISA successfully deployed an observer mission to the Tripartite Elections held in Zambia on Thursday 28 September 2006.

The mission was a short-term observation assignment and consisted of 14 members including representatives of electoral commissions and civil society organisations from Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique, Portugal, South Africa, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe. EISA deployed six teams in five provinces in Zambia namely:

  • Copperbelt;
  • Eastern;
  • Lusaka;
  • Northwestern;
  • Southern.

The mission has made a preliminary assessment of the poll and its interim findings and recommendations are summarised in this press release. Our observations and views are based on the guidelines enshrined in the Principles for Election Management, Monitoring and Observation in the SADC Region (PEMMO).

This is a preliminary summary of the findings of the mission:

  • The constitutional and legal framework exists for the conduct of credible elections in Zambia;
  • The introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for the registration of voters, nomination of candidates and tabulation of results built enhanced security measures into the electoral process;
  • The electoral campaign was conducted in a generally peaceful atmosphere with all parties free to campaign in a relatively tolerant political environment;
  • EISA received numerous reports of unbalanced and partisan media coverage of the election campaign;
  • Although all the stakeholders collaborated on voter education, it was not enough and there is still room for improvement in this area as demonstrated by the lack of familiarity with voting procedures that was shown by a sizeable number of voters;
  • At polling stations visited by EISA observers, the voter turnout was relatively high with over 65 percent of eligible voters casting their votes;
  • Polling arrangements were adequate enough to manage the number of registered voters in the time allotted for the poll;
  • In some cases at the beginning of voting, polling stations were congested and election officials struggled to manage the voters;
  • In the majority of polling stations, the layout did not protect the secrecy of the ballot;
  • There was inconsistent application of counting procedures across the different polling stations. For example, many counting staff were unaware that they needed to reconcile ballot papers prior to the count;
  • Electoral staff need more training in counting procedures;
  • Women were well represented amongst the electoral staff;
  • The proportion of women representation amongst all the election candidates has decreased since the previous election. This situation needs urgent redress;
  • Counting at polling stations was generally conducted well except for the lack of reconciliation forms and tally sheets for the count.

The mission has made recommendations which can be found in our interim statement. These recommendations will be discussed more fully in our final report which will be produced within 90 days.

At the time of the compilation of this statement, the tabulation and announcement of results are in progress. Therefore our conclusion regarding the conduct of these elections is restricted to the period of our observation - up to 30 September 2006.

On the basis of its observation thus far and using the guidelines enshrined in the PEMMO, the EISA Election Observer Mission concludes that the Tripartite Elections held on 28 September 2006 in Zambia were conducted in a manner that allowed the people of Zambia to express their democratic choice. It is the hope of the mission that the tabulation and announcement of the final results will be conducted in the same manner as the preceding stages so that the electoral outcome can reflect the will of the Zambian voters.

Abel Leshele Thoahlane
Mission Leader