Insala Kapondo (Hunger is Hunger, it can cause someone to go against his own principles)

 

By ANTONIO MWANZA

On 18th September, 2020, The Electoral Commission of Zambia launched the Online Pre-Voter Registration.

Since the launch, the Opposition and their surrogates have gone to town crying murder, accusing ECZ of trying to rig elections in further of the Patriotic Front.

Let us debunk the rigging myth:

1. There is NO online Voter Registration that ECZ is conducting. What ECZ is doing is PRE-Voter registration and NOT voter registration.

The Online- Voter Pre-registration is not a final registration. All those who will pre-register online will be required to visit a physical Registration Centre to submit their biometrics (portrait, signature, finger/thumb prints), have their details verified and obtain a voters card.

2. Those who may not have access to internet to enable them to pre-register online can visit any registration centre to register and obtain their Voters Cards.

The Online Voter Pre-Registration is convenient as those who will preregister online will be expected to spend less time at registration centres.

Article 229 of the Constitution of Zambia and the Electoral Process Act No.35 of 2016 empowers the Electoral Commission of Zambia to register voters, manage and administer all national elections.

Instead of demonising ECZ with unwarranted and unsubstantiated claims of rigging, the Opposition and their surrogates must instead help ECZ by encouraging all their members and the general citizenry to go flat out and register as voters.

It is not the job of ECZ to help anyone win an election. ECZ exists to conduct elections not to assist political parties win elections. It is the responsibility of individual candidates and parties to canvass for votes and win elections.

The Opposition is preparing excuses for their impending 2021 defeat and they want to use ECZ as a scapegoat for their imminent loss by discrediting ECZ.

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