The High Court of Zanzibar has temporarily stopped the planned destruction of election materials from the 2025 General Election, following a legal challenge filed by 17 candidates of ACT Wazalendo.
Sitting at the Tunguu Registry, the court, presided over by Judge Salma Hassan, issued the interim order on Thursday in Miscellaneous Civil Application No. 18 of 2026.
The order directs the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) to maintain the status quo by preserving all election materials until the court hears and determines the matter.
The applicants are parties in Election Petitions Nos. 2 to 18 of 2025. They moved the court under a certificate of urgency after ZEC announced its intention to destroy election documents and equipment used during the 2025 polls.
In her ruling, Judge Hassan said the matter raised serious legal concerns and warned that destroying the materials at this stage could cause irreparable harm to the administration of justice.
She therefore ordered that all contested documents remain intact until the case is heard inter-partes.
The materials covered by the order include key statutory election forms used at polling stations and during vote tallying. Among them are Form PS No. 9, which records the handover of election materials; Form PS No. 13B, detailing the accounting of ballot papers for House of Representatives candidates; and Form PS No. 16, used to formally close polling stations.
Also protected are Form PS No. 17B, which captures polling station results for the House of Representatives; Form MWJ No. 19B, which summarises constituency-level results; and Form KM No. 23, relating to applications for early voting.
The order further covers the lists of voters who were authorised to cast their ballots during early voting on October 28, 2025, in constituencies including Pangawe, Malindi, Kiembe Samaki, Chumbuni, Chaani, Makunduchi, Mwera, Nungwi, Tumbatu, Mkwajuni, Bumbwini, Mpendae, Mtoni, Welezo, Amani, Mwanakwerekwe and Kijini.
The case is scheduled to return to court on February 10, 2026, for a full hearing involving both parties. The ruling is expected to play a key role in safeguarding electoral evidence as the court continues to hear election-related disputes arising from the 2025 Zanzibar polls.