In 2018, the Zambia Law Development Commission (ZLDC) and the Zambia Correctional Service (ZCS) were requested by the Minister of Home Affairs to facilitate the operationalisation of the prisoners’ right to vote. This process was in accordance with the 2017 Constitutional Court judgement in Godfrey Malembeka v The Attorney General[1] that declared that persons in lawful custody and those whose freedom of movement is restricted under a written law are entitled to vote in future elections.
As part of the law reform process, the Commission conducted a desk study that culminated in the development of a position paper on the Operationalisation of the Prisoners’ Right to Vote which was handed to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Based on the findings of the Commission, the Electoral Commission of Zambia in January 2020, appointed a Technical Committee (TC) to lead the operationalisation of the right to vote by persons in custody. The ZLDC was appointed to spearhead the development of the legislative framework. The main objective of the law review process was to operationalise the right to vote for persons in lawful custody and those whose freedom of movement is restricted under a written law.
The project review activities concluded in the development of the project report, the Draft Electoral Process (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Prisons (Amendment) Bill, 2021, The Electoral Process (Campaign in Prisons and Correctional Centres) Regulations, 2021, and the Electoral Commission of Zambia (Amendment) Bill, 2021. The outputs of the review process were handed over to the Electoral Commission of Zambia in February 2021.
[1] Malembeka (Prisons Care and Counselling Association) v Attorney General and Another (13 of 2016) [2017] ZMCC 1 (14 August 2017)
