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The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has asked the Constitutional Court to clarify the legal effect of the resignation of presidential running mates, arguing that the country’s electoral laws did not prescribe the procedure to be followed once a vice-presidential candidate withdraws from an election.
In court documents filed in response to a petition by governance activist Isaac Mwanza, ECZ Chief Electoral Officer, Brown Kasaro, stated that the law was silent on how the Commission should deal with the resignation of a running mate after nominations have closed.
Kasaro told the court that while the Constitution and electoral laws provided for the resignation of a presidential candidate, they did not address the resignation of a vice-presidential running mate or its legal consequences.
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“There is no provision in the law that regulates the procedure for resignation of a running mate and the attendant processes to be followed thereafter,” Kasaro stated in his affidavit.
He explained that the Commission discharged its constitutional mandate in accordance with the Constitution, the Electoral Process Act and subsidiary electoral regulations.
According to Kasaro, the issue arose after the ECZ received resignation letters from Andyford Banda, who had been nominated as the running mate to Organised People’s Party (OPP) presidential candidate, Brian Mushimba, and Moses Mawere, the running mate to Citizens First presidential candidate, Harry Kalaba.
He stated that both letters were received only after the Commission had completed printing, serialising and packaging presidential ballot papers containing the names of all duly nominated presidential candidates and their running mates following the close of nominations held between May 18 and 22, 2026.
Kasaro submitted that despite the resignations, the Commission remained constitutionally obliged to proceed with the August 13 general election.
ECZ further argued that Article 52(6)(a) of the Constitution expressly permitted a presidential candidate to resign but renders such a candidate ineligible to contest the election.
The Commission submits that the Constitution does not prescribe a deadline for resignation, meaning a presidential candidate may lawfully resign at any time before polling day, including on the eve of the election.
However, it argued that where ballot papers had already been printed, removing the candidate’s name would be impracticable because the Constitution fixed the date of the general election and did not permit postponement on that account.
ECZ, therefore, contended that although the name of a resigned candidate may remain on the ballot paper, that candidate would no longer be eligible to contest the election.
It further submits that votes cast for a candidate who resigns after ballot papers have been printed should not be counted.
The Commission said the Constitutional Court’s interpretation was necessary because it bore the constitutional responsibility of conducting elections and required judicial guidance on how to deal with similar situations in future.
Mwanza’s petition asks the Constitutional Court to interpret Articles 52 and 110 of the Constitution following the withdrawal of two vice-presidential running mates.
Among the questions before the court are whether a presidential candidate is constitutionally required to maintain a validly nominated running mate throughout the electoral process, whether ECZ must remove the name of a presidential candidate or running mate from the ballot paper following a resignation or withdrawal before polling day, and whether votes cast for a presidential candidate whose running mate has withdrawn remain valid under Zambia’s majoritarian electoral system.
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