THE Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) is targeting to register 2.5 million new voters to add to the 3.9 million currently on the 2006 register to bring the voter’s roll to about 6.4 million.
ECZ deputy director in charge of Information Technology Brown Kasaro said this in Lusaka on Wednesday when he presented a paper on the Implementation of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) at a stakeholders meeting.
Mr Kasaro said the commission’s projections are based on the Central Statistics Office (CSO) data which estimates that there are currently 6.4 million Zambians eligible to vote.
The CSO projects that there are 659,033 people in Central Province who are over 18 while Copperbelt has 1,033,211 with Eastern Province having 839,691.
Luapula residents who are over the age of 18 are estimated at 536,443, while in Lusaka the number is 927,841 with Northern Province having 801,224.
Those over 18 in North-Western Province are estimated at 372,372 while in Southern Province the number is 777,362 with Western Province having 487,095.
Zambia’s current estimated population stands at more than 12 million.
In 2000, the CSO announced Zambia’s population at 10,618,500.
The ECZ will in June this year embark on a continuous mobile voter registration exercise to last until September.
Mr Kasaro said the registration will commence with an initial 90-day mobile campaign in each of the 150 constituencies.
He said a minimum of six registration officers will be deployed in each constituency.
Mr Kasaro said the CVR will entail the continuous updating of the existing voters’ register through the registration of eligible citizens.
He said the exercise will also entail the replacement of voters’ cards in cases of loss or damage, change of details and transfer of voters from one polling district to another.
The exercise will provide for the removal of the deceased from the voters’ register and amendment of other details by registered voters.
Mr Kasaro said those who registered in 2005 do not need to register again but verify their details.
Government has this year allocated K70 billion for the CVR.
ECZ chairperson Florence Mumba said at the stakeholders meeting that the Commission would only be able to conduct its first phase of the continuous mobile voter registration because of insufficient funds.
“The budget has provided K70 billion towards the implementation of continuous voter registration.
With this level of funding, it is surely not possible to decentralise the continuous voter registration as earlier planned. Therefore, the commission has undertaken to commence the registration through periodic mobile registration campaigns,” Mrs Mumba said.
She said funds permitting, the exercise may continue later in the year.
Mrs Mumba said during the periodic continuous mobile voter registration exercise, mobile teams equipped with digital mobile registration kits will be deployed in each of the 72 districts of the country.
She said each registration centre under the exercise will be open for 12 days.
Mrs Mumba said continuous mobile voter registration will include periodic closures to allow the commission to update the voters’ register.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
Bwana, probably a third of those in the Voters Register have since passed on. How can you use that as a basis. This is a completely new registration for every. There will be no basis to use the 2006 register, as it belongs to the past. This will be a recipe for rigging.
IT IS MIND BOGGLING HOW EASTERN PROVINCE HAS BECOME THE MOST POPULOUS PROVINCE ALL OF A SUDDEN!
Wenye wanu[-(
The ECZ will not be able to meet the projected figure in CVR coz looking at the funding of the whole exercise K70 Billion is not enough. The Political parties should not only be seen to active giving press statemnts in the media but should go out flat to the grassroots and encourage as many pipo as possible to obtain NRCs and register. If they wait until the last moment then they will have lost it.
HELP ME SO THAT I CAN VOTE, IN 2005 I GOT 2 VOTES CARD, WERE I USED TO STAR I GOT 1 IN KITWE TEACHERS TRAINING COLLEGE AND I LEFT THE PLACE TO KAWAMA ,WERE AGAIN I GOT 1, LATER I WAS INFORMED THAT THOSE WITH 2 VOTES CARDS WILL BE ARESTED SO I WANT TO SEE THE TOWN CLARC BUT HE WAS NOT IN THE OFFICE SO JUST THERE I MANAGED TO SEE YOUR OFFICE THEN I WAS TOLD NOT GO AND VOTE BUT NOW THAT BOTH MY VOTES ARE LOST WHAT CAN I DO TO ONLY PLEASE HELP
I want to register for the 2011 general elections, but unfortunately when I went to do so I found that they have stopped doing that, registration was just for 12 days – Mumbwa Town, please help us extend the registration because I am not the only one who has not done so, there are several other people that have not registered. Please we do not want to be left out we want to be part of our country zambia.