Maravi

Election monitors call on ECZ to intensify voter sensitisation

Election monitors call on ECZ to intensify voter sensitisation
By Kabanda Chulu in Kitwe
Tue 10 Aug. 2010, 14:00 CAT

THREE election monitoring organisations have observed the need for the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) and all stakeholders to intensively engage in voter sensitisation to avoid a recurrence of the apathy that characterised the Chifubu by-elections.

According to a joint post-election statement released by the Anti-Voter Apathy Project (AVAP), Caritas Zambia and the Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD), the Chifubu by-election results reflected the will of the people in the constituency.

“However, the voter turnout was disappointingly low. Of the 29,198 registered voters, less than half about 12,000 voted, representing a paltry 30 per cent. This is sad in that as Zambia prepares for the 2011 general elections, citizens would have been more interested in elections rather than the apathy being exhibited,” they stated. “Chifubu being an urban constituency with a more enlightened population should have had a better turnout than what has turned out to be. We therefore urge the Electoral Commission and all stakeholders to intensively engage in voter sensitisation to avoid the same apathy recurring in the 2011 general elections.”

The organisations stated that the campaign process was generally peaceful with no major incidents of violence.

“But we noted the use of unpalatable language by political leaders during their campaign rallies. The language had the potential to incite cadres against one another. We therefore wish to remind our political leaders to desist from this trend as it has continued to emerge during elections,” they stated. “And we are happy to report that the Electoral Commission was fairly prepared for the polls. This was because all polling stations had sufficient election materials which were delivered on time. Further, almost all polling stations opened on time. However we noted that some polling stations opened late due to lack of transport for election officials.”

The monitors also commended the professional conduct of the police during campaign period and on the election day.

“Police conduct was generally good as they were able to address emerging issues during the campaign period. All political parties had their notification for rallies approved by the police without restrictive conditions. However, we noted with concern that police were being used as ushers instead of restricting their role to providing security for voters, election officials and election materials. ECZ must ensure that in future elections they have civilians playing this role,” they stated.

The monitors stated that media coverage continued to be of concern whenever there were elections.

“The public media has continued being biased towards the ruling party and only covering opposition political parties and politicians in negative ways while the private media has equally focused on seemingly stronger parties. We noted in Chifubu that UNIP and ADD were not given enough coverage despite them being contestants in the elections. We therefore urge the media to be mindful of the provision in the electoral code of conduct which requires media organisations to give equal coverage to all candidates,” they stated.

The three organisations monitored the by-election and deployed 67 monitors in the 39 polling stations across the constituency. In addition to the monitors stationed in polling stations, about 11 roving monitors were deployed and went round the constituency on poll day.

Labels: ECZ, VOTER REGISTRATION

posted by MrK @ 5:20 PM