🇿🇲 BRIEFING | Tonse Raises Ballot Paper Concerns After Dubai Inspection
The Tonse Pamodzi Alliance says it will formally engage the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) after raising concerns over the printing of presidential ballot papers in Dubai, where political party representatives are observing the exercise ahead of the August 13 General Election.
Alliance representatives Enock Tonga, Kasonde Mwenda and Professor Nkandu Luo said two issues require clarification. The first relates to the printing of approximately 9.1 million presidential ballot papers, despite Zambia having about 8.7 million registered voters. The second concerns the ECZ’s decision not to publicly disclose the security features embedded in the ballot papers.
The delegation said it arrived in Dubai after printing had already commenced on 30 June, meaning it did not witness the start of the exercise. While acknowledging that the ECZ explained why printing began before all party representatives were present, the alliance said it would have preferred to observe the process from the outset.
According to the delegation, the ECZ attributed the higher number of ballot papers to the packaging process, explaining that ballots are printed in fixed bundles. The Tonse representatives, however, said they remain unconvinced, arguing that the number of printed ballots should closely correspond with the number of registered voters to avoid concerns over excess ballot papers.
The alliance also questioned why the ballot paper security features remain confidential, saying voters should be aware of the safeguards that enable them to verify the authenticity of their ballots on polling day.
Despite raising the concerns, the delegation said its intention is not to undermine public confidence but to promote transparency, adding that it will continue engaging the ECZ before providing further updates.
© The People’s Brief | Goran Handya
What do you expect to send the drama king Kasonde Mwenda ?
Ba Kasonde bena lyonse ma concerns
He can even use AI to verify the Ballot papers as he did with Choma pictures, abena KM ma serious lyonse. On going late, we can’t say much because even if it were the ruling UPND which went there late, the printing of Ballot papers could have gone ahead. ECZ had announced and gave all the political players ample time to travel to Dubai in time to witness the commencement of the printing. For security reasons, features may not be disclosed in order to avoid counterfeit or fake but similar ballot papers. ECZ is right not to disclose them. With AI in place, the world has become more complicated and people are capable of doing anything. Excess Ballots should not worry anyone because at the end of day, ECZ will still account for them, it’s not possible to have more votes than the voters, if that happened then the elections risk being nullified.