Update: Read the CCMG verification statement here.

Lusaka, Zambia – The Christian Churches Monitoring Group (CCMG) of Zambia, a coalition of faith-based organizations and a partner of NDI’s, issued a preliminary statement examining the conduct of the country’s Jan. 20 presidential by-election. Additional commentary from the group is expected after official results are announced no later than Jan. 25. Voting was extended for a day because of heavy rains.

The report said the vast majority of polling stations opened on time and there were isolated instances of accredited monitors being denied access, but not enough to undermine the observation effort.

Zambians went to the polls to vote in the tightly contested presidential contest caused by the death of President Michael Sata last October.The winner of the election will serve the remaining 18 months of Sata's term. The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), civil society, political parties and voters had fewer than three calendar months to prepare. 

To support the electoral process, CCMG deployed a total of 1,108 election observers in all 10 provinces of the country to observe the elections.

CCMG is comprised of the Council of Churches of Zambia (CCZ), the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR), the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) and the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC). Caritas Zambia, a reputable civil society organization, serves as the CCMG secretariat. 

NDI is providing technical assistance to the coalition to conduct a parallel vote tabulation (PVT) of the election. The Institute is also working closely with CCMG to aid credible, nonpartisan citizen observer groups or networks to conduct a qualitative general observation.

NDI’s program in Zambia is jointly funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), and consists of three components: domestic observation, including a PVT; political party poll watcher training; and a post-election lessons learned component to analyze, consolidate and apply lessons learned from the observation efforts to help prepare for general elections in 2016.