Zambia's electoral body says still waiting for results from constituencies

Zambia's electoral body said on Friday it had not deliberately delayed to start announcing the results of the presidential election, saying it was still waiting for results from various constituencies.

Zambians voted in general elections and referendum on Thursday, with a high voter turnout, forcing the electoral body to extend the voting period in some polling stations.

Priscilla Isaacs, the director of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), said the electoral body will only start announcing the result for the presidential election after receiving them from the polling stations.

"We can only give official results after we get results from all polling stations in a constituency and verify them. So bear with us because we want to ensure that we get factual results," she told a press briefing.

She however said the electoral body expects to start giving official presidential results at 2 p.m. local time.

She said voting has closed in all the 7,700 polling stations, adding that the last polling station in western Zambia closed at 2 a.m., adding that counting was currently underway in most polling stations.

She further called on stakeholders to ignore results being posted on social media and wait for official results from the electoral body.

"The Commission has continued to call for calm. I know we are all anxious but we must be patient and wait for the ECZ to make its first official announcement," she added.

Nine candidates stood as presidential candidates but the race is mainly between incumbent President Edgar Lungu and main opposition contender Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development (UPND).

Lungu narrowly beat Hichilema by less than 28,000 votes in last year's presidential election called after the death of President Michael Sata. Endit