CCMG Calls on All Registered Voters in Zambia to Go to the Polls Confident that Citizen Monitors Will Help Safeguard the Vote
10 August 9, 2021
For Immediate Release
The Christian Churches Monitoring Group (CCMG) as part of its comprehensive monitoring of the entire 2021 elections will deploy over 1,600 monitors and mobile supervisors to every province, district and constituency on Election Day. CCMG’s monitors will arrive at polling stations before they open and remain there vigilantly watching the entire process until voting and counting are finished. Their presence at polling stations will help assure that all Zambians feel confident to freely exercise their fundamental right to vote.
CCMG’s monitors will send in detailed reports to the CCMG Data Centre on the conduct of the voting and counting processes in near real-time via coded text messages. All monitor reports will be verified to ensure their accuracy. CCMG monitors were carefully selected from CCMG member organizations, thoroughly trained and have been accredited by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ).
In its observation of Election Day, CCMG is employing the PVT methodology, which is an advanced citizen monitoring methodology employed by citizen groups across Africa, including in Zambia. This will ensure that CCMG provides the most accurate information on the conduct of voting and counting and will be able to assess if the official results for the presidential election as announced by the ECZ reflect the ballots cast at polling stations.
Elections are more than just Election Day that is why CCMG has been monitoring the entire electoral process. Throughout the pre-election period, CCMG has deployed 330 long-term observers (LTOs) to every constituency of the country to report on electoral preparations, the campaign and campaigning space, the implementation of COVID-19 mitigation protocols, politically motivated violence and related acts, the use of government resources in campaigning and partisan acts by traditional and religious leaders. CCMG also deployed monitors to over 1,000 registration centres during the voter registration process. CCMG’s assessment of the elections will, therefore, be based on monitoring of the entire process, not just Election Day.
CCMG plans to issue its preliminary statement on the overall conduct of the voting and counting processes at 10h00 on Friday 13 August 2021 at the Radisson Blu Hotel. This will be a comprehensive statement drawing on pre-election and Election Day reports from CCMG monitors from every province, district and constituency of the country. However, CCMG will continue to closely monitor the process through its completion, including the tabulation and announcement of results.
CCMG calls on all registered voters in Zambia, regardless of which party they support, to go out and vote on Election Day confident that CCMG monitors will be at polling stations to help safeguard the process. We encourage the ECZ to administer voting, counting and the tallying of results in an inclusive, transparent and accountable manner and to only announce results that reflect the ballots cast at polling stations. We urge all political parties and candidates to resolve all emerging disputes through peaceful means and through legal channels. Our commitment to Zambians is that we will assess the 2021 general election with complete neutrality, will provide an assessment of the election based on the whole of our observation efforts and will speak out on any Election Day irregularities documented by our monitors, including any detected in announced election results.
God Bless Zambia.
Download the signed copy of the CCMG Calls on All Registered Voters in Zambia to Go to the Polls Confident that Citizen Monitors Will Help Safeguard the Vote Press Statement here https://caritaszambia.org/phocadownload/general/CCMG-Press-Release-for-10th-August-2021.pdf
