THE Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) says it is awaiting the Constitutional Court’s guidance on the way forward following the withdrawal of two presidential running mates after the presidential ballot papers had been printed.

Meanwhile, the Commission says ballot paper printing has reached 68 percent completion, with more than 23.9 million of the 36.47 million ballot papers required for the August 13 general election already printed.

ECZ Commissioner McDonald Chipenzi has further described the 2026 general election as the first in the country’s history to present so many emerging electoral issues.

He says the completion of ballot paper printing, initially set for July 15, has been delayed by administrative processes arising from the unprecedented withdrawal of candidates after nominations had closed.

Earlier this week, governance activist Isaac Mwanza petitioned the Constitutional Court to clarify the legal implications of a presidential candidate or running mate withdrawing after nominations close, including whether such withdrawals are valid and how they affect the counting of votes.

Earlier, Friday, Chipenzi led political parties, civil society organisations, church representatives, security agencies and the media on another inspection tour of the Al Ghurair Printing Company in Dubai to appreciate the ballot printing process and monitor the progress made so far.

Speaking to stakeholders after the tour, Chipenzi said only 32 percent of the ballot papers remained to be printed, while the first shipment of election materials was expected to leave Dubai on July 26.

“The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) wishes to update you and the nation that the printing and packaging of ballot papers is progressing well, with all the 9.1 million presidential ballot papers having been printed. Further, 6,574,750 ballot papers for 1,340 wards have also been printed so far, while 5,258,800 for 77 districts have been printed for mayoral and council chairperson election. For National Assembly elections, 3,018,750 ballot papers have been printed for 96 constituencies. Out of the total of 36,473,200 ballots for the 2026 general election, 23,970,600, which is 68 percent of the ballots have been printed. This entails that we are remaining with only 32 percent to complete the printing journey. And as indicated by the printer, the shipping of ballot papers is expected to start on 26th July, 2026,” he said.

Chipenzi explained that the Commission had to verify every resignation before approving ballot paper proofs to ensure that candidates who had withdrawn were not included on the ballot papers.

“The nation may wish to know that the printing process has been slightly delayed due to some administrative processes to ensure the accuracy of the details on the ballot paper proofs before printing commences. There have been some delays. And this delay is, like I’ve said, because of administrative problems, because this election has been one of the most unique elections, with a lot of emerging issues. One of those emerging issues that has come out of this election is the resignation of already nominated candidates. So you will find that in one constituency, on the proof that you are approving, there were five candidates, maybe three independents or so. You then find that maybe two or three have resigned. So you have to go back to the district to get more information. Some of these people who were resigning were writing directly to the Commission, which is also procedurally wrong, because you write the letter of resignation to the DEO (District Electoral Officer) of your district,” he said.

“I believe that those who have been longer at the Commission will appreciate that we have had nothing like this before. Because before, once nominations closed, that was the end. We wouldn’t see this kind of resignation. There could be one or two, and you cancel the election. But in this case, you don’t cancel the election. You now need to verify so that these people are not on the ballot, as the law stands now that anyone who resigns is not eligible to contest an election. So if somebody is on the ballot, it means that person is contesting, isn’t it? Because he is on the ballot. So that is one of the biggest challenges”.

And Chipenzi said the Commission would allow the court to determine the way forward regarding the withdrawal of running mates for Citizens First presidential candidate Harry Kalaba and Organised People’s Party (OPP) presidential candidate Brian Mushimba after the matter was taken to court.

He was responding to a question from Tonse observer Professor Nkandu Luo, who wondered how the Commission would treat the withdrawal of the two running mates for Kalaba and Mushimba, since the printing of presidential ballot papers had been completed and election materials for some constituencies had already been packed.

“Like I said, this is a unique election that requires a unique approach. So, unfortunately or fortunately, this matter is now before the court. I think Isaac Mwanza took the case to court. Perhaps we should wait for directions from the court. What do we do with such people in the electoral process? We are learning a lot, Professor, during this election. It is the first-ever election in the history of this country where you have so many emerging issues. You try to resolve one issue, another one comes. But the electoral process is also a living process, so it has to be confronted as it comes. For now, maybe you permit me just to leave it to the court to guide us on what’s next with the running mates,” said Chipenzi.

However, he said the Commission was working with all relevant staff and stakeholders to ensure that the ballot papers were delivered in time for the August 13, 2026 polls.