EU Observers Raise Concerns, say Zambia’s Results Tabulation “Deteriorated Significantly” after suspension

The European Union Election Observation Mission has given its most detailed account yet of what happened inside Zambia's results tabulation process, reporting that the conduct of counting "deteriorated significantly" after the Electoral Commission of Zambia's nationwide suspension on 14 August, and disclosing armed attacks on totalling centres in Lusaka and Central provinces that MUVI had not previously reported.

WHAT THE SUSPENSION ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE

The EU EOM said the ECZ's suspension of counting and announcement of results ran from 12:00 to 18:00 on 14 August, the day after the election, a six-hour window rather than the fuller 24-hour period some earlier reports described as the timeframe for review. The Commission attributed the suspension to violent incidents targeting polling staff and, in some instances, allegations of ballot box theft, but the EU EOM noted that "no further details were provided on the locations and how systematic or isolated these incidents were."

BEFORE AND AFTER: A MEASURABLE DECLINE

The mission, which had observers present for tabulation in 64 of Zambia's 226 totalling centres, said that before the suspension, results tabulation was assessed as "very good" in 43 percent of its observations, with polling agents and citizen observers present in almost all centres and following the results entry process. After the suspension was lifted, that picture changed markedly. Observers found totalling centre staff frequently failed to record results on the tally sheet as soon as they were announced by the returning officer, as required under electoral process regulations, and overall transparency of tabulation was rated "bad" or "very bad" in 12 percent of centres observed post-suspension, with only 27 percent rated "very good," down sharply from the pre-suspension figure. The share of observations in which staff confirmed that figures entered into the digital results management kit matched the tally sheet fell to 81 percent after the suspension, compared with 100 percent before it. The proportion of observations in which totalling centre staff ensured digital and paper figures corresponded also dropped, to 42 percent from 30 percent pre-suspension, according to the mission's own footnoted figures.

The mission also reported extended breaks during tabulation in almost half of its observations after the suspension, saying returning officers appeared to be waiting for instructions from ECZ headquarters before announcing results. It said a heavy military presence at totalling centres following the suspension was "intimidating to most interlocutors," and coincided with fewer party agents and citizen observers being present than before.

ARMED ATTACKS ON TWO TOTALLING CENTRES

The mission disclosed two specific violent incidents at totalling centres that MUVI has not previously reported. In Lusaka, it said an armed group attacked the totalling centre in Makeni on 15 August and took almost all polling station result forms. Separately, in Central Province, the mission said "various credible witnesses" it interviewed reported that alleged UPND cadres raided two of three totalling centres in Kabwe on 16 August, "fundamentally disrupting the tabulation process" there. MUVI has not independently verified either incident and has sought comment from the Zambia Police Service and the ECZ.

A TRANSPARENCY GAP AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL

The mission was also critical of the ECZ's handling of public results reporting. Although the Commission launched a results website the day before the election, it did not publish partial results on it, and confirmed on election day that it would not publish disaggregated results broken down by individual polling station, a step the EU EOM said matters because it allows anyone to independently compare polling station results against what the Commission later announces nationally. The Commission declared preliminary presidential results shortly before 03:00 on 18 August. "The EU EOM repeats its call for maximal transparency in this, as in other parts of the process," the mission said, "and recalls the confidence-building benefit of publishing disaggregated results, broken down by polling station, by the ECZ at the national level."

The mission said it remains in the country and continues to observe with nationwide coverage across all 10 provinces.