Zambian presidential election, 2008
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Presidential elections were held in Zambia on 30 October 2008 following the death of the incumbent President Levy Mwanawasa on 19 August 2008, as the elections had to be called within 90 days of his death. It was expected that there would be internal problems within the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) as Mwanawasa had not declared a successor prior to his death, but Acting President Rupiah Banda was selected as the MMD's candidate without apparent problems.Michael Sata stood as the candidate of the Patriotic Front (PF), while Hakainde Hichilema stood as the candidate of the United Party for National Development (UPND).Godfrey Miyanda stood as the candidate of the Heritage Party.
The elections were held to determine who should serve out the remainder of Mwanawasa's presidential term, which ended in 2011, rather than for a full five-year term. The elections were decided in a single round on a first-past-the-post basis.
Final results were announced on 2 November 2008, giving Banda the victory with 40.09% of the vote against 38.13% for Sata. Banda was promptly sworn in on the same day.
Following Mwanawasa's death, some questioned whether it would be financially possible for the Electoral Commission of Zambia to hold the elections within the designated timeframe. It was also suggested that it would be necessary to hold the election without updating the voters' roll, but using an outdated voters' roll could cause complications during an election. The Electoral Commission decided to use the voters' roll from the 2006 elections due to lack of time. A group called Anti-Vote Rigging, which was aligned with the opposition, took the matter to the High Court, seeking a decision that would force the Electoral Commission to "register new voters ahead of the elections because most people will be defranchised". The High Court ruled on 14 October that it was acceptable to use the old voters' roll due to time constraints.
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