Zambia election body to verify disputed votes

By Shapi Shacinda LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambia's election commission will on Thursday begin verifying ballots cast in last week's controversial presidential vote to enable the opposition to challenge the result in court, officials said on Wednesday. "We start our verification tomorrow (Thursday) and this is to check all election materials, what was used and what has remained," Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) spokesman Chris Akufuna told Reuters. Under Zambian law, the verification of ballots is required before an aggrieved politician can ask the court to demand all ballots are recounted. Defeated Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata has branded the election to find a successor to late president Levy Mwanawasa a fraud, and said he planned to apply to the court for a recount. Mwanawasa died from a stroke in August, two... [read full story]