Zambia : ECZ Insists Ballot Papers Valid Without A Cross, Cites Law Amid Rising Dispute

The Electoral Commission of Zambia has restated that a ballot paper will not be rejected simply because a voter failed to mark it with a cross, provided the voter’s intention is clear, as a dispute over the timing of that clarification intensifies three days before the national vote.

ECZ Chief Electoral Officer Brown Kasaro said the Commission had noted with concern misleading statements from some stakeholders, including political party leaders, regarding the marking and validity of ballot papers ahead of Thursday’s poll.

Mr Kasaro said Section 60(6)(b) of the Electoral Process Act No. 35 of 2016 requires a voter to mark the ballot paper in a way that indicates the candidate the voter wishes to vote for. “The law does not prescribe a cross as the only mark that may be used,” he stated.

He noted that Regulation 33(d) of the Electoral Process (General) Regulations, 2016 instructs voters to use a cross when marking their ballot, but said this must be read together with Regulation 46(2)(b), which he said provides that a ballot marked otherwise than by a cross shall not, for that reason alone, be invalid, provided the voter’s intention clearly appears on it and the marking does not itself identify the voter.

“Voters are instructed to use a cross, but the absence of a cross does not, by itself, make a ballot invalid,” Mr Kasaro said. “What matters is whether the voter’s intention is clear and the ballot meets the requirements for validity.”

He added that this has been ECZ’s practice since 2006, and is therefore neither a new position nor a new interpretation of the law.

The Commission’s clarification is consistent with the wider structure of the Act. Section 68(2)(d), which governs the rejection of ballots during counting, provides for a ballot to be rejected where it is marked in a manner that makes it impossible to determine the voter’s choice, rather than requiring an “X” as the sole valid mark.

NRPUP presidential candidate Brian Mundubile has not disputed that reading of the law. His party’s concern is one of timing rather than substance, centred on the effect of raising the point so close to a vote after voters have been taught for years, since long before this election, to use the cross as the standard mark.

That concern is that introducing the wider marking allowance this late risks unsettling an electorate accustomed to a single method, and could feed suspicion that the Commission has a hidden motive for doing so now rather than earlier in the campaign.

Lawyers acting for NRPUP, Aongola & Co. Legal Practitioners together with Makebi Zulu Advocates, wrote to ECZ this week citing Regulation 33(d) and giving the Commission a three-hour deadline to clarify whether both a cross and a tick would be accepted at polling stations. The firms said ambiguity over the acceptable marking method could create uncertainty during counting and verification.

Historian Dr Sishuwa Sishuwa has taken a firmer position than the NRPUP leadership, maintaining that a cross remains the only lawful mark and that a tick or any other mark results in a spoilt ballot.

DPP president Antonio Mwanza has backed the Commission’s position, arguing that Section 60 of the Act does not say a voter must use an “X” or that every other mark is automatically invalid. Mr Mwanza said the provision has existed since the 2016 elections and is not a new requirement introduced by ECZ.

Mr Kasaro, addressing a separate stakeholder meeting in Lusaka, said any single, clear mark confined within a candidate’s designated area on the ballot would be treated as valid. “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.

Mr Kasaro urged all stakeholders to provide accurate information to the public and to avoid statements that could unnecessarily confuse voters or undermine confidence in the electoral process during this period.

Polling stations open on Thursday, with the cross remaining ECZ’s recommended standard in ongoing voter education even as the Commission maintains that other clear markings will not automatically void a ballot.

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