ECZ Says new polling stations aren’t new voting centres

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has clarified that the increase in polling stations for the 2026 General Election does not mean new voting centres have been created through delimitation.

Chief Electoral Officer Brown Kasaro said the rise from 12,152 polling stations in 2021 to 13,529 for 2026 is due to more voters being assigned to existing voting centres, requiring additional voting rooms.

“Following the certification of the Register of Voters, the number of registered voters increased to 8,786,300 and once the Register of Voters is certified, the Commission is then able to determine the number of polling stations required across the country based on the number of registered voters assigned to each voting centre,” he said

Mr Kasaro explained that voting takes place at voting centres, and each centre can house one or more polling stations, also called voting rooms, depending on the number of registered voters.

He cited the University of Zambia Sports Hall as an example saying, it is one voting centre but may contain several voting rooms and each voting room is treated as a polling station.

“This means polling stations are not always separate physical locations, in 2021, the ECZ announced 12,152 polling stations, but these were spread across about 9,000 voting centres, with many centres hosting multiple stations, “he said.

Mr Kasaro further said for 2026, the number of voting centres remains about 9,000 and increase in polling stations comes from adding more voting rooms within those existing centres to accommodate the larger voter register.

“The number of voting centres has remained the same at about 9,000, what has increased is the number of polling stations within existing voting centres to accommodate the increased number of registered voters,” Mr Kasaro said.

He said the approach allows voters to use familiar centres while helping the Commission manage the larger voter population and improve the voting process.

This is according to a press statement released to the media by ECZ Chief Electoral Officer