Chapter 14 Inconsistent Jurisprudence: Parliamentary Election Petitions in Zambia and Materiality
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Abstract
Post-election disputes are a dominant feature of Zambia’s electoral cycle. In many parliamentary electoral disputes, the success of the petition turns on the so-called ‘materiality’ of the alleged violation. Notwithstanding the importance of materiality to the outcome of an electoral petition, decision-making in this area is contradictory, eclectic and ad-hoc. This chapter argues for a functioning jurisprudence on materiality that can ensure predictability in the electoral dispute process. Were an objective test on materiality to emerge, this could provide a degree of predictability for litigants, keep the courts accountable, and caution would be offenders of the threshold of behavior that falls foul of the electoral code.