Zanzibar: Electoral system

Updated September 2010

Legal basis[1]	Constitution of Zanzibar 1984. Election Act 1984. Zanzibar Municipal Council Act 1995. District and Town Councils Act 1995.
Electoral system	Parliamentary Elections: Single member plurality, first-past-the-post system of multiparty elections[2]. Presidential Elections: popular vote, plurality[3].
Election period	Presidential and parliamentary elections every 5 years, concurrent with Union elections[4].
Electoral institutions	Zanzibari Electoral Commission (ZEC)[5]. Director of Elections[6].
Functions of electoral institutions	ZEC: Responsible for constituency delimitation, voter registration, conduct of elections and publication of results[7]. Director of Elections: Executive arm of the ZEC[8].
Independence of electoral institutions	Members of the ZEC are appointed by the President and may be removed for failing to discharge duties or misconduct. The ZEC is not obliged to accept instructions from any external body[9].
Delimitation of constituencies	The ZEC reviews delimitation every 10 years[10]. There are 50 constituencies.
Voter registration and voters' rolls	The ZEC is responsible for establishing a permanent voters' register[11].
Voter education	The ZEC is tasked by law with voter training and education[12].
Nomination of candidates	Parliamentary: A candidate must be proposed by a political party, pay a deposit and have the nomination endorsed by 25 voters in the constituency[13]. Presidential Elections: A candidate must be proposed by a political party, pay a deposit and have the nomination endorsed by 200 voters[14]
Funding of political parties	Parties represented in the House of Representatives are funded in proportion to the number of seats held. Private fundraising is not regulated[15].
Election campaign	No code of conduct for political parties was in place during the 2000 election16]. The Campaign meetings are prohibited at places of education and worship[17].
Communication	The ZEC issues directives with the force of law to state media to provide equal opportunities for parties[18].
Counting	After the close of the poll the ballot boxes are sealed by the presiding officer and candidates and the votes are counted and the results are returned to the returning officer for summation[19].
Announcement of results	The returning officer summates the results submitted by the presiding officer and publishes/announces the final results publicly. The retuning officer then submits the results to the ZEC who publishes them in the government Gazette[20].
Conflict resolution	The constitution prohibits enquiry by the courts into "anything done by the Electoral Commission in performance of its functions"[21]. The Electoral Act provides for other petitions to be heard by the High Court[22].
Election observation	National and international observers are accredited by the ZEC and issued with Guidelines governing accreditation and observation and that includes a Code of Conduct[23].

Table notes

[1] The Constitution (1984) came into effect on January 12, 1985. The Election Act (1984) cited here includes amendments only up until October 25, 2002 (issued by the Director of Elections in May 2003).
[2] Constitution 1984, Article 65.
[3] Constitution 1984, Article 27, 34.
[4] Constitution 1984, Articles 28(3), 92(1).
[5] Constitution 1984, Article 119.
[6] Constitution 1984, Article 119(9).
[7] Election Act 1984, 5, 6. The National Elections Commission of Tanzania conducts elections for the Union presidency, parliament and local government. The ZEC conducts elections for the Zanzibari President and the House of Representatives.
[8] Election Act 1984, 7.
[9] Constitution 1984, Article 119(6)-(9), (12).
[10] Constitution 1984, Article 119, 120.
[11] Election Act 1984, 13.
[12] Election Act 1984, Article 5(b).
[13] Constitution 1984, Article 68(d); Election Act 1984, 46-47.
[14] Constitution 1984, Article 26(d); Election Act 1984, 31-32, 34.
[15] Agyeman Undated, 2.
[16] A voluntary code was agreed on by political parties, but never actually signed by any of them (Commonwealth Observer Group 2000, 16).
[17] Election Act 1984, 56(4). The ZEC issues a directive indicating the beginning and the end of the campaigning period. The latter is the day before the election (Commonwealth Observer Group 2000).
[18] Commonwealth Observer Group 2000, 23. The report observes that "the ruling party enjoying the lion's share of coverage in the state media".
[19] Commonwealth Observer Group 2000, 31. The Election Act is unclear on whether the ballots are counted by the presiding officer at the polling station or sent to the returning officer at a counting centre (cf 76(5)-(6) with 78-80 and then with 80ff).
[20] See footnote 18. The procedure described above is as observed by EISA staff at the 2000 poll, as well as that followed by the NEC of Tanzania.
[21] Constitution 1984, Article 119(13)
[22] Election Act 1984, 115.
[23] Election Act 1984, 79(h). The ZEC also issued as set of "Guidelines for Local and International Observers" in 2003 under section 130 of the Election Act 1984.

References

AGYEMAN, K UNDATED "Regulating political party funding in South Africa - A necessary step in the direction of democracy", Centre d'Etude d'Afrique Noire.

COMMONWEALTH OBSERVER GROUP 2000, "The Elections in Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania", [www] http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/uploadedfiles/%7BB076DC5E-6608- 41FA-91A8-3F4DC3193851%7D_Zanzibar%202000.pdf [opens new window] (accessed 9 Mar 2010).

CONSTITUTION OF ZANZIBAR 1984, came into effect on January 12, 1985.

ELECTION ACT 1984, as amended in 1995 and in 2002.

ZANZIBAR ELECTORAL COMMISSION 2003 "Guidelines for Local and International Observers", [www] http://www.zec.go.tz/docs/guidelines_observers.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 27 August 2010).