DR SISHUWA SAYS VOTING USING A TICK IS ILLEGAL IN ZAMBIA
DR SISHUWA SAYS VOTING USING A TICK IS ILLEGAL IN ZAMBIA
In Zambia, the only valid way to mark a ballot paper when casting one’s vote in a polling station is using a cross.
Regulation 33 (d) of the Electoral Process (General) Regulations of 2016, which provides for the procedure for casting a vote at a polling station, clearly stipulates that “the voter shall, on receiving the ballot paper, enter one of the compartments provided in the polling station for that purpose and signify the vote by secretly marking the
ballot paper with a CROSS a in the appropriate place and shall then fold the ballot paper in such a way that the official mark stamped on it is visible and the mark signifying the vote is not visible”.
A CROSS is a written mark (X or +) formed by two lines going across each other.
A TICK or any mark other than a CROSS on a ballot results in a SPOILT ballot.
That is the position of the law ahead of Thursday’s general election.
