Zambia To Ban Cellphones At Poll Stations

Zambia’s Electoral Commission has announced that they will be implementing a ban of all cellular phones at all the polling stations come the local, presidential and legislative elections on August 11th.

Voters will not be allowed to use their cellphones within the polling stations.

However, this directive form the Electoral Commission did not sit well with opposition parties. Request Muntanga, a member of the United Party for National Development – who is the head opposition party to to the government – questioned the motive behind the decision to ban cellphones:

“…[sic] I want to see where there is a regulation that says no cellphone [in polling stations]… The [electoral commission] is already creating uneasiness among players,” he said.

The Electoral Commission then said in a statement that the reason for the ban on cellphones was to keep voting a secret.

According to the commission, in the past, people had been caught taking pictures of the ballot and who they voted for, and then proceeding to post the picture to social media.

Crispin Akufuna, a PR spokesperson for the Zambian Electoral Commission said that the use of cellphones infringes on the secrecy of voting:

“…[sic] [This compromises] the secrecy of the vote and can be considered as a form of campaigning which is prohibited on poll day,” he said.

However, even though the commission have given their reasons for the ban, opposition parties and other groups still feel that the ban intervenes with voter’s rights. They are also saying that the decision was made without consulting the other parties involved.