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The Electoral Commission of Zambia has said it has received reports of vote
buying and warned perpetrators of punishment by the law.
ECZ director of elections, Priscilla Isaacs said in Lusaka yesterday that the commission had been receiving anonymous messages in form of letters and text messages from members of the public in Lusaka and some districts indicating that there was rampant vote buying.
Ms Isaacs urged members of the public to guard their voters’ cards jealously, saying their vote was sacred.
Meanwhile, Ms Isaacs also said ballot papers for the September 20 tripartite elections would arrive today aboard a chartered plane scheduled to land at Lusaka International Airport between 11:00 hours and 12:00 hours.
She said all those nominated to witness the arrival and inspection of the ballot papers before they are dispatched to polling stations should be accredited with the ECZ.
Ms Isaacs said the ECZ would only allow two representatives from stakeholder groups and political parties to avoid congestion as was the case in 2008.
She said the ballot papers would be kept at a Zamcargo warehouse at the Lusaka International Airport, which the ECZ was renting, and would start being dispatched to the various polling stations by road between Wednesday and Friday, after inspection by district electoral officers.
She said ECZ was installing closed circuit television (CCTV) in and outside the Zamcargo warehouse to ensure maximum security.
And Ms Isaacs also said more than 500 international monitors from about 20 organisations and countries, including the media, had already accredited, among them the Electoral Institute of South Africa, Southern African Development Community parliamentary forum, Botswana, Kenya, the Commonwealth and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.
ECZ director of elections, Priscilla Isaacs said in Lusaka yesterday that the commission had been receiving anonymous messages in form of letters and text messages from members of the public in Lusaka and some districts indicating that there was rampant vote buying.
Ms Isaacs urged members of the public to guard their voters’ cards jealously, saying their vote was sacred.
Meanwhile, Ms Isaacs also said ballot papers for the September 20 tripartite elections would arrive today aboard a chartered plane scheduled to land at Lusaka International Airport between 11:00 hours and 12:00 hours.
She said all those nominated to witness the arrival and inspection of the ballot papers before they are dispatched to polling stations should be accredited with the ECZ.
Ms Isaacs said the ECZ would only allow two representatives from stakeholder groups and political parties to avoid congestion as was the case in 2008.
She said the ballot papers would be kept at a Zamcargo warehouse at the Lusaka International Airport, which the ECZ was renting, and would start being dispatched to the various polling stations by road between Wednesday and Friday, after inspection by district electoral officers.
She said ECZ was installing closed circuit television (CCTV) in and outside the Zamcargo warehouse to ensure maximum security.
And Ms Isaacs also said more than 500 international monitors from about 20 organisations and countries, including the media, had already accredited, among them the Electoral Institute of South Africa, Southern African Development Community parliamentary forum, Botswana, Kenya, the Commonwealth and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.
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