The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) will not use mobile phones to transmit election results in the forthcoming presidential by-election from polling stations to constituency centres, according to an official.

ECZ chairperson Irene Mambilima said the commission will not use the electronic (mobile phones) transmission of results from polling stations, but will rely on polling agents to physically deliver the results to the 150 constituency centres.

She said, however, that the election results would be transmitted electronically from constituency centres to the Commission's headquarters and the national results centre at Mulungushi International Conference centre in the capital Lusaka.

During a briefing with political party leaders yesterday, Mambilima explained that the results, at that stage, would have been verified by political party agents and each political party presented with a hard copy to be transmitted.

The ECZ has bought mobile phones for all election officials for use in transmitting election results in a bid to bring efficiency in the election management system.

"Note that the commission has continued with its pilot of the electronic transmission of results from polling stations, but this will not be used in this presidential election. The results will be transmitted physically from polling centres to constituency centres," Mambilima said.

In September this year, the country's opposition political parties rejected the use of mobile phones in transmitting election results from polling stations to tallying centres claiming the system could be manipulated by the ruling party in order to rig the elections.

Zambia goes to the polls on January 20 next year to elect another president following the death of President Michael Sata in October this year.