The Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) has postponed the commencement of the supplementary vote registration exercise, which was initially scheduled to begin today.
The registration was set to take place following concerns that the first exercise encountered problems which prevented some potential voters from registering.
In a statement issued Thursday, Mec said that it requires more time to analyse the data provided by the National Registration Bureau (NRB), which completed supplementary civil registration on January 4, 2025.
NRB had been registering Malawians who were eligible but could not register as voters due to delays in deploying its staff during the first registration exercise conducted by Mec.
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According to Mec, the schedule for the supplementary voter registration was based on the expectation that the data of those who had completed the registration process with NRB would align directly with the organisational structure of the commission’s voter registration operations.
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However, the commission said that a thorough analysis of the data provided by NRB is necessary to better inform its approach to the registration process.
“The additional work includes verifying the number of individuals who registered with the NRB during the voter registration period and readapting the initial logistics plan on which centres will best serve optimised accessibility to prospective registrants targeted in this supplementary registration exercise,” the statement signed by Mec Director of Media and Public Relation Sangwani Mwafulirwa says.
In an interview, NRB Principal Secretary, Mphatso Sambo, said that he could not comment in detail on the matter but confirmed that the bureau had submitted the required data to Mec.
The data includes the number of new registrants and their locations.
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“We have a working memorandum of understanding with Mec, which requires us to provide them with such data. I cannot go into detail about how they analyse the data because we are two separate institutions,” Sambo said.
The supplementary voter registration aims to address specific gaps in compliance with the court order of October 25, 2024.
High Court Judge Mandala Mambulasa ordered NRB to ensure that all eligible voters were registered for the national identity card (ID), allowing them the opportunity to vote in this year’s elections.
Five Malawians had petitioned the court to compel Mec to remove the requirement that only those with ID cards could register to vote, according to election laws.
Mambulasa then directed that NRB should be present at Mec’s registration centres to register those without ID cards, enabling them to proceed to register as voters.
However, it transpired that the first phase was marred by problems which prevented some Malawians from registering, even though they had presented themselves at the registration centres.
This prompted political parties and other stakeholders to call for supplementary registration.
Among other things, the supplementary registration targets Malawians who were eligible but could not register as voters because NRB had not deployed staff to the centres in Mec’s Phase 1 councils and who have since registered with NRB by January 4, 2025.
The exercise also targets people who registered with NRB but did not receive their national ID numbers in time to complete the voter registration process during Phases 2 and 3 of voter registration.
NRB conducted supplementary civil registration from December 29, 2024, to January 4, 2025, in the 14 Phase 2 councils.
This was to be followed by voter registration in Phase 3 councils from January 10 to 14, 2025, in Phase 2 councils from January 20 to 24, 2025 and in Phase 1 councils from January 30 to February 3, 2025.
Executive Director of the Centre for Multiparty Democracy, Boniface Chibwana, said that this is an opportunity for political parties to mobilise eligible voters.
“Those who truly wish to vote now have the opportunity to present themselves, register and vote in the general elections,” he said.
There was no immediate comment from opposition political parties, which have been urging Mec to extend the registration exercise due to the various challenges the process has faced.
Malawians are expected to vote for their president, members of Parliament and ward councillors on September 16, 2025.
