Zambia : ECZ Confirms Tick And Cross Both Valid At Thursday's Polls, Defends Late Clarification
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NewsLusaka - Zambia: The Electoral Commission of Zambia has confirmed that voters may mark their ballot papers with a tick, a cross, or any other clear mark,
Headlines 3 min.Read ECZ confirms tick and cross both valid at Thursday’s polls, defends late clarification By Lusaka Times Editor August 9, 2026 FacebookTwitterPinterestWhatsAppThe Electoral Commission of Zambia has confirmed that voters may mark their ballot papers with a tick, a cross, or any other clear mark, provided it stays within the box of their preferred candidate. The clarification came days before Thursday’s general election and departs from years of voter education material built entirely around the X.
Brown Kasaro, the Commission’s Chief Electoral Officer, gave the clarification during a stakeholders’ meeting with political parties at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka.
“Traditionally, the Commission, in its public information and so forth, has used the X as the correct mark in terms of the voter’s choice when voting, but that is not the only way to mark for a ballot paper to be valid,” he said.
Mr Kasaro said a tick, a cross, or a line drawn across the ballot paper next to a candidate’s name would all count as valid, so long as the mark did not extend into another candidate’s space.
“An X, yes, or a tick, or a line crossing from right across the ballot paper along that candidate. As long as that marking does not cross over to any other candidate, it’s restricted within the particular area for that candidate, it is a valid mark,” he said.
That position sits uneasily against Regulation 33(d) of the Electoral Process (General) Regulations of 2016, which sets out the procedure for casting a vote. It states that a voter must mark the ballot paper with a cross before folding it so the official stamp is visible but the mark itself is not.
A tick, under the printed regulation, would ordinarily render a ballot spoilt. ECZ has not publicly named which legal provision it is relying on to extend validity to other marks this close to polling day.
For years, the Commission’s own radio, television and print voter awareness campaigns have taught the public to use only the X. Nothing in that material prepared voters for a tick or a dash being accepted this year.
That gap has drawn pointed questions from commentators. A widely circulated piece by Linda Banks, titled “ECZ, the X, and the Eleventh-Hour Changes,” asked why the Commission was altering settled procedure so close to polling day without consulting political parties and election monitors beforehand.
A KBN TV editorial put the question to ECZ directly, asking which law permits a tick to be treated as valid this year. The editorial argued that if the Commission cannot point to a legal basis, the position ought to be withdrawn rather than defended.
The editorial also noted that the clarification was first raised with international observers, not with political parties, whose supporters will be most directly affected by how their votes are read at counting.
Some commentary has urged opposition parties, including the Tonse Alliance, to test the change in court rather than raise it only in public statements, on the reasoning that a judicial ruling before polling day would settle the matter for every candidate and every polling station.
Separately, the planned announcement of results in blocks on 17 August has drawn similar calls for transparency, with critics of that approach saying a detailed, station-by-station results trail makes it easier for parties and the public to verify the national count once it begins.
Mwangala Zaloumis, the ECZ chairperson, has urged political parties and other electoral stakeholders to familiarise themselves with the Commission’s guidelines so they can pass accurate information to their supporters ahead of the vote.
Mr Kasaro used the same meeting to address other last-minute concerns, including reports that voters with artificial nails could be turned away from polling stations.
“No one will chase you because you have artificial nails,” he said, adding that polling officers had been instructed to apply indelible ink appropriately regardless.
He also repeated the Commission’s standing instruction that voters must not sign the ballot paper or write their initials on it.
With polling four days away, the Commission has not said whether it will issue a written amendment to reconcile the new position with the printed regulations. Political parties, election monitors and voters are left to work from Mr Kasaro’s verbal clarification in the meantime.
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