On 13th August 2026, Zambia went to the polls. In the days since, the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has been sharing results from various polling stations and expected to declare the presidential result as soon as this process is complete. But beneath the headlines about those who will be declared winners and losers sits a number that says more about the future of our democracy than any single name on the ballot.
According to the Electroral Commision of Zambia, Of the 8,786,300 Zambians registered to vote this year, 4,066,423, 46.3%, are young people between 18 and 35. That is not a youth “segment” of the electorate. That is close to half of it.
What does this number tell us?
For years, young people have been talked about as the future of Zambian politics, the generation to “prepare” for leadership, to “empower,” to “engage” someday. This election makes clear that the future has arrived. Youth are no longer a demographic that politicians court on the margins with T-shirts and rally appearances. They are electorates.
That changes incentives. A near-majority youth register means no candidate, party, or manifesto can realistically win by ignoring the issues young Zambians actually live with: unemployment, the cost of starting a business or a family, access to skills and capital, mental health and safety nets, and a fair shot at opportunity outside of political connections. Numbers like these force politicians to speak to young people directly, not about them.
It also raises the stakes for accountability. A government elected substantially on the strength of the youth to vote inherits a specific obligation: to deliver for the people who elected it, and to be measured by that delivery, not just at the next campaign, but continuously.
What this asks of young voters
Numbers on a register are potential, not power. Power only shows up when that potential turns into an informed, engaged, and sustained civic habit. A few things matter here:
- Vote on substance, not just sentiment. Charisma, slogans, and social media buzz move people, but they do not build roads, create jobs, or fund clinics. Look at track records, manifestos, and what a candidate has delivered or credibly plans to.
- Guard against misinformation. In an election cycle shaped as much by WhatsApp forwards and social media as by rallies, the discipline to verify before sharing is itself a civic act. False information doesn’t just mislead voters; it erodes trust in the whole process.
- Show up beyond the ballot box. Voting is the beginning of civic participation, not the end of it. Attending public forums, engaging local leaders, following up on campaign promises, and holding elected officials accountable between elections is where a demographic majority becomes real influence.
- Stay engaged locally, not just nationally. Ward councilors and local leadership shape daily life, roads, markets, clinics, waste collection, often more directly than national politics. The same scrutiny young voters apply to the presidency belongs at the ward and constituency level too.
Why this matters to us
At Copper Rose Zambia, we have spent years working alongside young people, not as a group to be spoken for, but as a constituency with the numbers, the voice, and increasingly the platform to shape the country’s direction. This election is proof of something we have always believed: Zambia’s youth are not waiting for a seat at the table. Demographically, they are the table.
The question now is not whether young people can shape Zambia’s political future. The register already answered that. The question is what “young people choose to do with that power, this election, and everyone after it”.
Now, that civic duty does not end with the ballot. It becomes the harder work of watching, asking, and following up: track how your ward councilor and MP vote, show up when local budgets are discussed, and hold every promise made on the campaign trail against what actually gets delivered. The register proved the numbers. The next five years will prove the follow-through.
