By Isaac Salima & Brenda Kayo:
Roughly 2.4 million people have registered during the second phase of the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec)- administered voter registration exercise.
The second phase concluded last week Friday.
A statement which Mec Chief Elections Officer Andrew Mpesi has released indicates that 2,422,595 people were registered.
This represents 61 percent of the projected population.
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Mpesi says, according to the National Statistical Office, about 3,963,148 people aged 18 years and above could have registered in areas that were targeted for the phase in question.
“The commission wishes to emphasise that these figures are preliminary and the public must exercise caution on their use. Since the data has not been cleared, figures may slightly change if duplicate registrations are discovered,” Mpesi says.
The electoral body further indicates that more females have registered in the phase (1,343,072) than men (1,079,523).
The third and last phase of registration started Thursday.
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The exercise involves Mzimba, Lilongwe, Lilongwe City, Mangochi, Mangochi Municipal, Mwanza, Chikwawa and Nsanje.
There have been calls from political parties and civil society organisations for Mec to extend the voter registration period citing various reasons.
Speaking when they registered last week, People’s Party president Joyce Banda and UTM leader Dalitso Kabambe said the exercise needed to be extended as there were several factors that caused some people not to register.
However, Mec refused to bow down to pressure last week.
It said it would not extend the duration because it was satisfied with people’s turnout.
Meanwhile, Mec Chairperson, Judge Annabel Mtalimanja, has urged eligible people to register under the third phase of the voter registration exercise so that they can vote next year.
The third phase commenced Thursday.
Mtalimanja made the appeal Thursday after she registered at Tsokankanasi Voter Registration Centre in Lilongwe.
She said registration was a tool that empowered citizens to vote for leaders of their choice.
“Registration is a fundamental right that gives citizens the power to choose their leaders, I urge all eligible Malawians to take advantage of this opportunity and register to vote,” Mtalimanja said.
