Zambia’s government says it will not introduce electronic voting (e-voting) in the 2026 General Elections, as intended by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), until the country has reliable network coverage and connectivity in place.

Responding to ECZ’s publicised plans to implement the first official e-voting system in 2026, acting leader of government business in Parliament Ambrose Lufuma said, “e-voting cannot be introduced in Zambia for now until certain things - including reliable network connectivity are put in place.”

Peter Sinkamba, leader of the Green Party of Zambia, warned that unless the national registration system is fully digitalised, the risk of duplication of voter registration and/or multiple voting is increased.

“There is need for more investment into the ministry of Home Affairs’ department of National Registrations to digitalise the process aimed at creating a database and biometric that can then be used by important processes such as e-voting among others,” he said.

The government agrees with concerns raised by the opposition said Lufuma who added: “It will not be implemented until its benchmarks are properly done.”

Recently, the country’s Minister of Science and Technology Felix Mutati said Zambia is working towards achieving 100% national network coverage by the end of 2024.

The Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) has also licenced StarLink to provide fast internet connectivity across the country in the next six months.