Statement by Consortium of 7 Civil Society Organisations on the March 14 Livingstone by-elections

Introduction

The Consortium of Seven (7) Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) namely the Anti-Voter Apathy Project (AVAP), the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP), the Operation Young Vote (OYV), the Southern Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD), the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), the Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID) and the Zambia National Women’s Lobby (ZNWL), seized the opportunity to monitor the Livingstone 14th March, 2013 by election as an enhancement to the democratic dispensation of our country. At the point (11th March, 2013) of deploying the monitors, the Consortium announced to the general public and particularly to the electorate, stakeholders and all other players in the elections and in the same breath the Consortium is obliged to share with the public and all stakeholders its works and outcomes of the monitoring conducted.

The monitoring was done by the local trained and accredited monitors belonging to the above mentioned organisations and was beefed up with the presences of the core team of roving monitors from Lusaka. Numerous activities were undertaken during the process of monitoring the Livingstone by election.

Among the activities undertaken included the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT), which the Consortium used to verify official election results from the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ). Civil Society in general and the Consortium in particular felt that the Livingstone by election was not only important for Southern Province in particular but also for Zambia as a whole especially that it was the second after the 2011 tripartite elections and a postponement from the 28th of February, 2013 to 14th March, 2013 after the violence that led to the death of a PF cadre.

Pre-election day monitoring

During the pre-Election Day period (after the postponement) the Electoral Commission of Zambia restricted all political parties to campaign using the media and not with any form that would have direct contact with the electorate. However the ruling PF did not adhere to this directive as senior party and government officials were seen to have direct contact with the voters, a case in point is when the PF Secretary General, Mr. Wynter Kabimba travelled to Livingstone to drum up support for the PF Candidate;

Media coverage of competing political parties and candidates failed to adhere to the Electoral (Code of Conduct) Regulations. It was observed that the state media and some private media were biased towards the PF. Only the PF candidate was seen on ZNBC TV while those from the opposition were not. It must also be noted with gladness that certain private radio stations like the Mosi-utunya Radio gave all the political parties to sell their candidates on the eve of the elections. This opportunity was also availed to the Consortium to educate the electorates and call for a peaceful election;

Delivery of election materials and deployment of the election staff was satisfactory in that the materials were sufficient while the staff was adequate for the conduct of the by election. It was however noted that some streams in some polling stations received one polling booth as opposed to the allocated two.

Election Day Observation

On the Election Day, it was observed that most polling stations commenced voting in official time; secrecy of the vote was largely enhanced, and availability of election materials was significantly suitable for the conduct of an election. Other factors of interest included the polling arrangement (access – physical proximity to polling stations), the conduct and behaviours during polling and count, use of public resources i.e. vehicles, voter participation and results; and post-election day issues.

Opening of the Polling Stations

As a Consortium we note with delight at the serious observance of the opening of the polling stations and the commencement of the voting process at 06:00 hours by the ECZ. It must be indicated that the ECZ has tremendously improve on this score and as the Consortium we commend them.

Access (physical proximity) to Polling Stations

Electoral Act No. 12 of 2006 and Section 40 specifically provides that the criteria for Electoral Commission of Zambia to establish a polling station for an election include, for instance, the number and distribution of eligible voters in those polling districts; availability of suitable venues for polling stations; distance to be travelled to reach those venues; access routes to those venues; the availability of transport to those venues; safety and convenience of voters; and the ease with which those venues can be secured.

The Consortium notes that access (physical proximity) to polling stations was largely normal apart from an instance in Zambezi Ward in Bomb in Dambwa Site and Service (the is the area with the largest number of voters) were a polling station was moved and the voters were not properly informed. This coupled with the aspect of not having sign posts disenfranchised the voters.

The Consortium notes that most polling stations were located in schools and other public institutions that could easily be accessible.

Secrecy in Voting

The Consortium notes that secrecy in voting was observed, as most of the arrangements for ballot booths in all the polling streams were set in a manner that allowed ballot secrecy.

Polling Official Staffing

Polling official staffing levels observed in the entire constituency was sufficient for the task in all polling streams..

Political Party Agents at Poll

Polling agents are political party monitors representing the respective competing political parties of individual independent candidates. Most of the streams had one (1) party polling agents per stream while in five or so polling stations it was observed that the PF had two agents. It was further observed that UNIP did not station agents in some polling stations/streams. Observations were undertaken for the three major parties, which are PF, UPND and MMD.

Use of Government Resources/Vehicles

The Consortium notes with concern and regret the continued abuse of government vehicles by those in authority. There were a numbers of vehicles whose number plates were changed and those that had number plates completely removed. The issue of the chopper used by Winter Kabimba is a serious abuse which the ECZ should investigate and mate out appropriate action on the perpetrators of such abuse.

Security at Poll & Transparency before Voting

There was presence of uniformed security personnel in polling stations and others were roving around in land cruisers. It was also regrettably observed that the heavy presence of the uniformed police officers in some wards and polling stations such as Zambezi ward was intimidating to other stakeholders especially the voters.
Observations on incidents of transparency in the status of ballot boxes, indicated that monitors and party agents were shown that all the ballot boxes were empty before they were closed and sealed.

Conduct during Voting

The Consortium did concentrate of on number of factors when looking at the conduct during voting aspect which included the number of people allowed or not allowed for possessing or not possessing documents necessary for voting, tolerance of cadres at polling stations etc.

Not allowed to vote due to one or another reason

Some individuals/voters were turned away and not allowed to cast their votes even when they had both the voter’s cards and NRCs. It was observed that they were appearing in the Duplicate and not the Original Voters’ Roll.While there was another incident where the voter had his voters card and NRC but did not appear in the register.

Allowing and Tolerating Party Cadre at Polling Stations

The Consortium notes yet again with regret at the factor that some PF Cadres were allowed and tolerated in groups within the boundaries of polling stations while the secretly campaigned. PF Cadres were seen less than 30 meters from the doors of polling stations around 12 hours making phone calls to their fellows to come and vote. This was observed in Namatama and the polling station that replaced the Bombed Polling Station

Intimidation or Violence around the Constituency

Acts of intimidation or violence around the constituency were observed. We note the heavy presence of police and other security personnel at polling stations and generally around Livingstone which would have served to intimidate to electorate.

Employers Vs Employees Rights to Vote

The Consortium is greatly concerned at the fact that most employers had their employees on duty throughout the voting period a situation we feel infringed on the employees’ rights to vote thereby disenfranchising them from participating in electing their leader and in democratic governance as a whole.

Voter Participation and Results

Voter turnout in the March 14, 2013 Livingstone by election at about 33% was below average compared to the actual number of registered voters of 67,732 according to the 2011 Voters Register.

Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) by Consortium and Official Results from ECZ

The Consortium conducted a comparative analysis of the PVT and ECZ final election results and the outcome showed some level of consistency between the two of course with minimum margin of error. It is our belief that our involvement as a Consortium gave confidence and integrity to the process..

Conclusion

The Consortium is of the considered view that the irregularities and shortcomings that marred the 14th March Livingstone by elections are surmountable and that the ECZ together with all stakeholders and players can do better if there is mutual understanding and respect of not only each other but the laws and regulations that apply to the electoral process through dialogue and consultations.

The elections on the poll day were generally peaceful and calm with sporadic incidences of violence in some areas. However, the preceding weeks before the elections were characterised by serious vote buying, excessive use of funds to woe voters, arrests of opposition leaders etc. These circumstances render the conduct of the election unfavourable to the spirit of credible, free and fair elections.

The Consortium further notes that the UPND has expressed misgivings of the entire conduct of the elections and wishes to petition these election results. The consortium believes that it is within the rights of the opposition party to question the conduct of elections if they are so aggrieved. The consortium will not condone any malpractices and it is up to the court to decide on these elections.

The consortium wishes to extend its sincere gratitude to all the monitors and all people of goodwill for a job well done. We are also grateful to the political and economic section of the American Embassy in Zambia for partnering with the Consortium.

We also wish to thank the Electoral Commission of Zambia, the media, the Zambia Police and other stakeholders who in many ways contributed in making our work as the Consortium much lighter.