A constitutional referendum was held in

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

on 11 August 2016 alongside

general elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

, a move designed to reduce the cost of the referendum. Voters were asked whether they approve of proposed amendments to the

bill of rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...

and Article 79, which dictates the process of future amendments. Although 71% of voters voted in favour of the amendments, the number of registered voters in favour was only 24.61%, below the 50% threshold required to validate the result.

Background

The referendum sought to amend and enhance the Bill of rights and repeal and replace Article 79. The changes to the Bill of rights included the amendment of the "Civil and Political Rights" and the addition of an "Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights" and "Further and Special Rights" sections. The gazetted referendum question was:

Electoral system

For the referendum to pass, a majority 'yes' vote was required together with a total of at least 50% of eligible voters voting in favour.. In previous general elections voter turnout has been poor and experts feared that due to different eligibility requirements of the general elections, the referendum would create confusion and be a waste of resources.

Results

References

{{Zambian elections

Constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

Referendums in Zambia Constitutional referendums