PRESS RELEASE: Polling Station Stream Allocation: Chilanga Parliamentary and 6 Councillor By-Elections

ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF ZAMBIA

Elections House,

Haile Selassie Avenue,

PO Box 50274,

LUSAKA.

1^st June, 2018.

PRESS RELEASE

(For Immediate Release)

Polling Station Stream Allocation: Chilanga Parliamentary and 6 Councillor By-Elections

 The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) over time, has implemented the use of Polling Station streams in/at Polling Stations with more than 950 registered voters.

Definition of a stream:  A Polling stream is a subdivision of a polling station that has been divided into more than one voting point to quicken voting. This means that, at every polling station with registered voters above the 950 threshold, a stream is created.

The Commission has drawn lessons from the recent past By-elections and seeks to address some of the challenges that were observed at polling stations. These are;

1. Voting until late hours– in the last Councillor By-elections held in 16 Districts across the Country on 24^th April, 2018, the Commission witnessed a high voter turn- out in most polling stations and a good number of polling stations were still voting until late in the night i.e. Shibuyunji, Kasempa, Nyimba, Kalulushi and Mushindamo districts.
2. Long queues– Polling stations that were monitored by Commission Staff, as well as others manned by District Field Officers in various districts observed long queues of voters waiting to vote, and this can discourage voters from participating in future elections, leading to high voter apathy.
3. Security– It posed a security challenge to the voters who had to travel back to their respective homes late in the night, especially for persons with disabilities, among others.

This also impacts on the security of Election Staff and election materials in/for polling stations that are situated in or near public facilities such as markets/pubs etc.

4. Late Declaration of Election Results– in some wards Returning Officers took long to consolidate and declare the election results as some polling stations were still voting as well as,  among other reasons, those sited above.

In the forth-coming Chilanga Parliamentary and six (6) Councillor By-elections, the following are some of the remedial measures;

1. a)The Commission will deploy Officers at stream – level in Chilanga and Chienge Districts (having met the threshold) Kindly take note that other districts do not meet the threshold.

1. b) In Chienge, Mununga Ward with a total of five (5) Polling Stations, two (2)

    stations namely Mununga Primary School and Kabwe Primary School will

    have two (2) voting streams each, with a total of 1,318 and 1,130 registered

    voters respectively.

1. c) The Chilanga Parliamentary By-elections will have 25 Polling Stations with 35

     polling streams across the whole district.

The Commission would also like to remind stakeholders and political parties that constituency maps and voter registers are available for purchase at the ECZ Headquarters for your respective planning purposes. ECZ remains readily available to respond to the demands in the electoral environment while ensuring that stakeholders and the Zambian people remain an integral part of the process.

Margaret Chimanse

Public Relations Manager

for/ CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICER

ELECTORAL COMMISION OF ZAMBIA