High Voter Turn out Continues to hold across Polling Stations

The high voter turn out witnesessed across the country has continued to hold.

In Lusaka, voting at Chilenje South secondary school polling station opened its doors to the electorates at exactly 06:02 hours in Kabwata constituency in Lusaka.

Among the first persons to cast their vote was an elderly citizen who arrived at the polling station as early as 02:00hrs.

Chilenje South polling station was characterised by long queues of people from all sectors of society.

Chilenje South polling station Presiding officer Steven Soboya observed that all COVID-19 guidelines were being followed, as electorates were seen masked up.

Mr Soboya also clarified that the station made seven streams to quicken the process while following alphabetical arrangement.

“We are following the alphabetical order according to the voter register,” he said.

And one of voters talked to Claire Banda said she was happy to be amongst first person to cast a vote.

Ms Banda said she was impressed with the way the electoral commission of Zambia (ECZ) managed the process.

“The queues are being followed and everyone is wearing masks and ECZ has also provided us with sanitizers and washing bays,” she said.

And Republican Vice President Inonge Wina has expressed happiness at the massive turnout of voters at Silverest Primary School in Lusaka.

Mrs. Wina said it is good to see people lining up in long queues to vote for their preferred candidates.

Speaking shortly after casting her vote, the Vice President said the turnout signifies democracy and its importance.

Mrs. Wina however urged the electoral officers to speed up the voting process in order not to leave any voter behind.

“I can see so many people and we do not want to see any voter left behind.

She encouraged the voters to abide by the COVID-19 rules and protocols as they vote in order to reduce the spread of the virus.

“We have large numbers of people gathered, it is inevitable that we spread the infection hence the need to abide by the COVID-19 guidelines.

She called on everyone to correctly wear face masks to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Zambia today holds its general elections with 16 aspiring presidential candidates and over 800 aspiring parliamentary candidates.

And Voting in Monze district in Southern Province has been characterised by a large turnout of voters with some camping at polling stations as early as 02:00 hours.

A check by ZANIS at Monze East polling station which has 997 registered voters found long winding queues of voters who braved the morning cold to cast their vote.

Presiding Officer Mwiinga Katini said more than 337 people were in the queue long before the polling station opened.

He said by 07:00 hours more than 100 electorates had cast their vote, describing the atmosphere as calm and peaceful, apart from the initial challenge of controlling people to remain on the queue.

At Monze Primary throngs of voters were found waiting to cast their vote and Presiding Officer Lesley Halwiindi also described the atmosphere as calm and peaceful.

And District Electoral Officer Paythias Samakong’a told ZANIS that all the polling stations in the district opened at the stipulated time, at 06:00 apart from one station which opened 20 minutes late, adding that the lost time will be compensated to ensure all electorates cast their vote.

He also described the voting process as peaceful and smooth so far, with overwhelming voter turnout at all the polling stations in the district.

Monze district has 101,502 registered voters with 182 polling stations spread across the three constituencies of the district.

And Mwense District Electoral Officer (DEO) Betty Liswaniso has described the voter turnout in most polling stations in Mwense district as impressive.

Speaking after conducting a spot check on a number of polling stations, Ms Liswaniso said some polling stations had queues as early as 05:30 hours.

She said there were no challenges in delivering the election materials to the polling stations and that almost all the polling stations opened at 06:00 hours and are expected to close at 18:00 hours.

The DEO has since encouraged those who are still at home to go to their respective polling stations and exercise their right to vote.

And acting Mwense District Commissioner Benson Matipa who was among the first to vote was equally impressed with the number of people who had turned up to vote at Nsakaluba polling station.

And a check by ZANIS in some selected polling stations found that the polling stations had queues of people waiting to cast their vote.

At Luapula cooperative, a total of 14 had voted by 06:20 hours while at Mwense primary, 22 had voted by 06:35 hours.

At Shingwe polling station, 21 had exercised their right to vote by 06:45 hours, Kanyemba polling station recorded 28 by 07:00 hours while Shicama polling station had 79 by 07:25 hours.

Voters in Mambwe district in Central Province, are eager to cast their votes and have turned out in numbers at all polling stations in the district.

A check by ZANIS at Jumbe polling station and Kamoto polling station found scores of people lined up as early as 02.00 hours this morning.

And some of the voters expressed excitement for having the privilege to vote for the first time.

Faidess Mwale said she was eager to cast her vote, adding that she lined up as early as 02:00 hours to be among the first people to cast their vote.

And Edson Kamanga said he is happy with how people have turned out to cast their votes, in order to exercise their civic rights.

Jumbe polling station 1 has 858 registered voters, Jumbe polling station 2 has 857 and Jumbe polling station 3 has 857 registered voters, while Kamoto polling station 1 has 598 and Kamoto polling station 2 has 598 registered voters.

Samson Nyirenda being Presiding Officer for Jumbe polling station 3 announced the opening of the polling station at exactly 06:00 hours,

Niza Ndawa, Presiding Officer for Jumbe polling station 1 announced the opening of the polling station at exactly 06:04 hours and so did Gabriel Kaseneka Presiding Officer for Jumbe polling station 2.

Meanwhile, Damien Banda, Presiding Officer for Kamoto polling station 1 announced the opening of the polling station at 06hours and so did Chibeka Chimfwembe, Presiding Officer for Kamoto polling station 2.

The delay in the opening of some polling stations was as a result of no electricity, as some classrooms that are being used as polling stations have no electricity in them and thus, the officers were using their cell phone touch lights.