Introduction
Following an invitation from the Government of the Republic of Zambia, the Electoral Support Network of Southern Africa (ESN-SA) deployed an accredited Observation and Learning Mission during the period leading up to the 13 August 2026 General Elections. The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) accredited the Mission to observe polling-day procedures and processes at the National Results Centre. The nine-member Mission comprised observers drawn from ESN-SA member organisations across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, partner organisations and the ESN-SA Secretariat.
The Zambia 2026 General elections were conducted to choose the President, Members of the National Assembly, mayor/chairperson and local government representatives. The presidential ballot featured 14 candidates, though one candidate resigned on election eve.
The elections were the first to be held following major constitutional and legal electoral reforms that increased the number of constituency-based seats in the National Assembly from 156 to 226 and introduced a mixed electoral system comprising first-past-the-post constituency seats and 40 proportional-representation seats reserved for historically under-represented groups, 20 for women, 15 for youth and 5 for persons with disabilities. These reserved seats are to be allocated to qualifying political parties in proportion to the valid votes received by their presidential candidates, making their final distribution dependent on the presidential results.
