Zambia’s Electoral Reform Technical Committee (ERTC) has submitted a wide set of recommendations that could transform the country’s electoral system, law, and administration ahead of the 2026 general elections.
The report, submitted to the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) on June 3, 2025, is the product of months of nationwide consultations, legal reviews, and comparative studies from other jurisdictions. It covers constitutional reforms, changes to electoral laws and regulations, and administrative adjustments.
At the center of the committee’s proposals is a recommendation to adopt a Mixed Member Proportional Representation system for National Assembly and local government elections, while retaining the existing majoritarian system for presidential elections.
For parliamentary elections, the ERTC proposes that members of parliament be elected through a combination of constituency-based First-Past-The-Post (FPTP, as they call it) voting and proportional representation based on the total number of votes received by each party. At local government level, mayors and council chairpersons would continue to be elected directly through FPTP, but councillors would be elected through party lists under a proportional system. Political parties would be required to submit gender-balanced lists with equal numbers of male and female candidates, while ensuring youth representation and guaranteeing that every council includes at least one person with a disability.
In addition to the proposed changes to the electoral system, the ERTC recommends amendments to Article 68 of the Constitution to allow for the creation of more constituencies through delimitation. The committee argues that current constituencies are too large, limiting effective representation and service delivery. The report, however, doesn’t indicate which constituencies may need delimitation.
The report also proposes changes for handling the cancellation or continuation of elections in the event of a candidate’s death, resignation or disqualification after nominations. In cases where a candidate resigns or is disqualified after nominations, elections would proceed as scheduled. However, if a candidate dies before the election date, the election would be postponed for fresh nominations within 30 days.
The ERTC further recommends several amendments to the Electoral Process Act. These include introducing a 14-day pre-nomination period to allow for early verification of candidates’ documents, extending the period for challenging nominations, and lowering nomination fees to promote participation by marginalized groups.
On voter registration, the committee calls for full integration of technology in the electoral process. This includes the introduction of biometric voter registration and the possibility of merging voter registration with the National Registration Card (NRC) system to eliminate the need for separate voter cards.
For persons with disabilities, the committee recommends that voter registers should record and disaggregate disability data. Political parties would also be required to ensure that campaign messages are made accessible through braille and sign language interpreters.
Beyond electoral laws, the committee urges the government to operationalize the Gender Equity and Equality Commission as provided for in Article 231 of the Constitution. This would strengthen institutional support for gender equity across the electoral process.
On national registration, the committee supports the digitisation of NRCs to create a self-updating system that can automatically reflect changes in a voter’s status, such as death, without requiring manual updates.
The report acknowledges that these reforms would require amendments to the Constitution, various electoral laws, and administrative procedures. It also notes that some proposals would need careful implementation planning, including collaboration between the ECZ and other government departments.
The committee was appointed by the ECZ in July 2024 and began work in August. Its members included legal experts, academics, civil society organisations, faith-based organisations, political party representatives, and government institutions.
The proposals now await consideration by the ECZ, Parliament and other relevant authorities as Zambia prepares for its next general elections.
By Dingindaba Jonah Buyoya
