Zambia to print ballot papers locally

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Printing of ballot papers
Printing of ballot papers

Zambia has procured printing equipment for the state owned government Printers to enable the firm to print ballot papers for next year’s general elections.Transport, works and supply minister Yamfwa Mukanga told reporters on Saturday that his ministry had procured the equipment to enable the government printers to begin printing ballot papers locally and save the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) some funds.

The ECZ currently prints ballot papers for general elections including by elections mostly in South Africa and the United Kingdom which pushes up the cost because of the air freight involved in transporting the consignments to Zambia.

In addition several opposition parties have been uncomfortable with printing the ballot papers in foreign countries arguing that the practice did not guarantee an election that was free from manipulation through printing extra copies of ballot papers because it was difficult to observe the movement of the ballots from other countries into Zambia.

Yamfwa observed that the government printers had been unable to print ballot papers all along because it lacked the technology of including security feathers into the ballot papers which was a requirement of the ECZ.

Signature : APA

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