At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Zambia

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Rupiah BANDA *
• Head of Government: President Rupiah BANDA
• Assembly: Zambia has a unicameral National Assembly with 150 seats.

* The president is both the chief of state and head of government.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by plurality vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the National Assembly, 150 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms and 8 members are appointed by the President to serve 5-year terms.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Rupiah BANDA
  Party: Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD)
• Michael Chilufya SATA
  Party: Patriotic Front (PF)
• Hakainde HICHILEMA
  Party: United Party for National Development (UPND)

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 13,460,305 (July 2010 est.)
• Registered Voters: 5,167,154 (September 2011 )