Preliminary Statement by the Head of the SADC Electoral Observation Mission to the 2026 General Election in the Republic of Zambia

SADC deployed 106 observers who covered 277 of the 13,529 polling stations, about 2 per cent, and recorded a calm atmosphere at 275 of them. The mission records that the Electoral Commission of Zambia suspended counting and the announcement of results with effect from 14 August 2026, citing reports of violence, and lifted the suspension the same evening with counting resuming at 22:00; it names the absence of the constitutionally required political-parties and political-finance law as the most significant structural gap in the framework, and reports that voters' national registration numbers were recorded on ballot papers at some polling stations, which it calls inconsistent with the secrecy of the ballot.