The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) through a Technical Committee tasked to look at modalities of holding the 2021 General Election amid the COVID-19 pandemic has developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) aimed at guiding stakeholders’ conduct as relates to the election calendar .
Briefing the nation through a press briefing, ECZ Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Nshindamo said the SOPs have been developed in due consideration of the following; Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI) dissaggregated demographic data and how COVID-19 has affected each population segment.
He said according to Ministry of Health, crowds and public gatherings are among the super spreaders of the virus, adding that to that effect, the Technical Committee has identified electoral activities that fall in this category and developed the SOPs accordingly.
Nshindano added that the following are the electoral activities for which the SOPs have been developed; Payment of nomination fees by all aspiring candidates, Certification of the Register of Voters, Presidential Preprocessing of supporters and Nominations.
Read full statement below:
MEDIA BRIEFING ADDRESSED BY THE CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICER
MR KRYTICOUS P. NSHINDANO ON FRIDAY 30 th APRIL, 2021 HELD
AT THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF ZAMBIA
Media Personnel
Staff of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ)
Ladies and gentlemen
On behalf of the Commission, I wish to welcome you all to this briefing and
to the Electoral Commission of Zambia.
The Commission remains committed to ensuring that we continuously
provide updates on the progress of activities on our electoral calendar
leading to the 2021 General Election.
In our last engagement, we updated you and the nation on the following
issues;
- Technical Committee on mainstreaming of Covid-19 prevention
measures in the 2021 General Election calendar - Payment of nomination fees by aspiring candidates
- Inspection of the Provisional Register of Voters
Today we are addressing the progress of the works of the Technical
Committee working on Covid-19 prevention measures in the electoral
activities, preparations for nominations and an update on other electoral
activities
- Technical Committee on mainstreaming of covid-19 prevention
measures in the 2021 general election calendar
The Technical Committe tasked to look at modalities of holding the 2021
General Election amid the COVID-19 pandemic has developed Standard
Operating Procedures (SOPs) aimed at guiding stakeholders’conduct as
relates to the election calendar .
The SOPs have been developed in due consideration of the following;
- Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI) dissaggregated
demographic data and how COVID-19 has affected each population
segment - Legal framework, and
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- Stakeholders and structures that will support the cascading of the
SOPs and related information
According to Ministry of Health, crowds and public gatherings are among
the super spreaders of the virus. To that effect, the Technical Committee
has identified electoral activities that fall in this category and developed the
SOPs accordingly. The following are the electoral activities for which the
SOPs have been developed; - Payment of nomination fees by all aspiring candidates
- Certification of the Register of Voters
- Presidential Preprocessing of supporters
- Nominations
- Campaigns
- Voting
- Post-election reviews
As a way forward, the Commission will next week start engaging
stakeholders such as political parties to share the SOPs.
Let me briefly speak about the Technical Committee – This is a multi-
sectoral committee whose objective is to mainstream Covid-19 prevention
measures aimed at guiding the preparations and administration of the
electoral process before, during and after the August 2021 general election.
The establishment of the Technical Committee follows the resolution of the
22 nd February 2021 consultative meeting between the Ministry of Health
and Electoral Commission of Zambia in preparing for the general election
amid COVID-19
Membership has been drawn from the following institutions;
- Ministry of Health (MOH)
- Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB)
- Ministry of Local Government (MLG)
- Ministry of Education
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- Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI)
- Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (OVP-DMMU)
- Zambia Police Service (ZP)
- Zambia Centre for Inter Party Dialogue (ZCID)
- Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA)
- Water Aid
- Electoral Commission of Zambia
The Electoral Commission of Zambia is leading the process.
NOMINATION PREPARATIONS
- NOMINATION TRAINING FOR DISTRICT ELECTION OFFICERS
The Commission is currently preparing to receive nominations countrywide
from candidates vying for the positions of President, Member of Parliament,
Mayor/Council Chairperson and Councillor.
In preparation for the receipt of the nominations, the Commission recently
conducted the training of district election officers countrywide. The training
was held in all the 10 provincial centres from Tuesday, 20 th to Sunday, 25 th
April 2021.
The training focused on the legal qualifications and requirements for a
candidate to participate in an election.
The qualifications and requirements are as stipulated under Articles 100
(Presidential), 70 (Parliamentary), 153 (Local Government) and 52
(Nominations) of the Republican Constitution as well as Sections 30 to 34
of the Electoral Process Act No. 35 of 2016.
The following categories of district election officers have been trained:
Category Number Trained
Provincial Electoral Officers 10
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returning officers (DEO) – (Mayoral/Council Chairperson Nominations)
116
returning officers(National Assembly nominations) 156
returning officers (Councillor Nominations) 1,858
Technical Support Officers 156
Assistant Returning Officers 156
Total number trained 2,452
The names of all the returning officers will be gazetted in line with the
provisions of the Electoral Process (General) Regulations.
- NOMINATIONS
As you are aware, the Commission will receive nominations from
candidates vying for all the four (4) electable positions as follows:
Election Type Period/Date
President 17 th to 20 th May 2021
Member of Parliament 17 th May 2021
Mayoral/Council Chairperson 18 th May 2021
Councillor 19 th May 2021
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A list of validly nominated presidential candidates will be published
immediately after nominations.
Further, lists of successful candidates for the National Assembly,
Mayor/Council Chairperson and Councillor elections will be compiled and
availed to stakeholders once all the nomination papers have been received
from the districts.
- PRE-PROCESSING OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
Article 100 (j) of the Constitution provides for a presidential candidate to be
supported by 100 supporters per province.
To facilitate for the verification and capturing of details for the supporters of
presidential candidates, the Commission will facilitate for the pre-
processing of supporters between 10 th and 15 th May 2021.
The pre-processing will be done from provincial centres in all the ten
provinces. A timetable of presidential candidates who have paid (in full) the
prescribed election (nomination) fee will be compiled and publicized prior to
dates of receiving nominations.
The full payment of nomination fees for Presidential candidates will be
required to be made between 1 st and 9 th May 2021. There after details of
supporters for presidential candidates will be processed between 10 th and
15 th as highlighted above.
In order to enhance adherence to Ministry of Health Covid-19 guidelines,
not more than 20 supporters at a time will be allowed access to the pre-
processing centres.
In addition, supporters are urged to ensure that the Covid-19 guidelines are
observed. - ACCREDITATION
Accreditation of stakeholders who may wish to monitor nominations will be
done from 10 th to 14 th May 2021. The monitors for the nominations will be
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required to be sponsored by an organization which is active in matters of
governance.
The application must be addressed to the respective District Electoral
Officers for the districts in which the applicants wish to monitor the
nominations from.
The application letter must state the name and NRC number of persons to
be deployed. Organizations applying to participate as monitors for the first
time are required to attach a certificate of incorporation or registration to the
application letter.
In order to lessen the spread of Covid -19, only two persons per sponsoring
organisation will be accredited to observe the nomination process in each
constituency.
Not more than 10 persons at a time will be allowed to enter to monitor
nominations at each nomination centre.
- CAMPAIGN PERIOD AND THE CAMPAIGN TIMETABLE
The campaign period will start on Wednesday, 12 th May and end on
Wednesday, 11 th August 2021.
Candidates who will successfully lodge their nomination papers are
required to draw up a campaign timetable in collaboration with the district
election officers in districts where they lodged their nomination papers.
The timetable is meant to streamline campaign activities amongst political
parties and candidates as well as to enable candidates to freely canvass
for votes within specified areas and time frame.
A date for the compilation of the nomination timetable will be
communicated in due course.
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- COMPILATION OF THE FINAL REGISTER OF VOTERS
The inspection of the provisional register of voters will come to an end on
7 th May 2021. The Commission will update you and the nation on how
many registered voters verified their details at the end of the exercise. The
Commission will there after compile the final register. The compilation
involves validating updates, assessing claims, objections and appeals
which were made during the inspection period.
The certification of the final Register of Voters will be done on 9 th May - The venue and time for the certification will be communicated in due
course. - OTHER ACTIVITIES LEADING TO THE POLL
Some of the activities to be undertaken by the Commission before poll day
are as follows:
i. Printing of the ballot papers
Printing of ballot papers will commence after the period of
nomination petitions if any. This is in line with Article 52(4) of
the Constitution which provides for a nomination to be
challenged within seven days after the close of nominations.
Stakeholders will be informed on the commencement and
subsequent progress to be made towards the printing of ballot
papers for the 2021 General Elections.
ii. Recruitment and training of Poll Staff, Voter Education
Facilitators, District Election Trainers and Voter Education
Trainers
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The Commission intends to recruit and train District Election
Trainers, District Voter Education Trainers and poll staff for the
2021 General Elections.
The poll staff will be trained by the District Election Trainers
from their respective districts while the District Voter Education
Trainers will be engaged to train Voter Education Facilitators
who will be deployed to conduct voter education.
The number of Trainers, Poll Staff and Voter Education
Trainers to be recruited and engaged will only be determined
after the completion of the Final Register of Voters.
iii. Briefing of Stakeholders in Readiness for the Poll
A briefing of stakeholders on poll day procedures will be
undertaken in all districts at a date to be communicated.
iv. Provincial Election Support Centres
The Commission will establish election support centres in all
the ten provinces for the purpose of easing communication
between its field staff and Headquarters on matters that may
require prompt attention.
The centres will also be used to timely collect information from
the polling stations and disseminate the same to members of
the public.
In conclusion, let me reiterate that the Commission will continue updating
its stakeholders like yourselves, on the various activities to be undertaken
before, during and after the 2021 poll.
At this point, let me invite questions.
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I thank you.