Parliament meets today to amend the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act to include a provision that will allow special groups to vote in stations other than where they registered.
But Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has cautioned against making the scope too wide, stating that doing so would create challenges in ensuring credibility of elections.
MEC chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja, speaking in an interview yesterday after the electoral body and other stakeholders made submissions to the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament to include various categories of people, said it will be difficult to account for the process if the scope is too wide.
She said: “If we take for instance, students, if we open that scope then it means the scope is too wide. We will not be able to account as to who voted elsewhere for us to be able to ensure the credibility of the processes.”
MEC’s submission to the committee is that the amendment should include officials deployed by the electoral body, including security officers, drivers, polling staff, information and communications technology experts and others.
The amendment is also to include monitors for parties and independent candidates.
According to Mtalimanja, a judge of the High Court of Malawi, about 80 000 voters risk being disenfranchised if the amendment is not done.
“The proposed amendment is going to correct the legal gap and enable the commission to authorise these categories of voters to cast their ballot at the polling stations where they will be deployed,” she said.
But other stakeholders, including Civil Society Elections Integrity Forum (Cseif), Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC), Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (Chreaa) and Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) Malawi Chapter felt the scope submitted by MEC was narrow and needed to be widened as rights of various voters are at risk.
In their submissions, they argued that every person with a valid reason should be given the opportunity to exercise their right to vote.
MHRC executive secretary Habiba Osman said the proposed scope in the amendment is narrow.
She said the amendment should ensure that electoral laws reflect the principle of inclusivity, fairness and equal participation as guaranteed in the Constitution and international standards.
Chreaa executive director Victor Chagunyuka Mhango said there are inmates who registered before being jailed and others who registered while in prison, but have now been released and risk being disenfranchised.
On his part, Misa Malawi vice-chairperson Chisomo Ngulube said the media should also be considered as a special group as journalists will be deployed to various parts of the country to cover elections.
MHRC commissioner Teresa Ndanga, a journalist, supported Misa Malawi’s submission, saying journalists were given the opportunity to vote elsewhere in the past and that the arrangement can still be made.
Cseif chairperson Benedicto Kondowe said there are accredited observers who will need to be in different places and they need to be included in the amendment.
He also urged the committee to consider situations where people move to other places because they have been bereaved or transferred by their institutions.
Legal Affairs Committee chairperson Albert Mbawala said the committee will look into the submission by the stakeholders and present them before the House for its consideration today.
In an interview, Youth And Society executive director Charles Kajoloweka said there is need to safeguard the right to vote for everyone.
President Lazarus Chakwera authorised the reconvening of Parliament today to enable the amendment of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act to accommodate special groups to vote in stations where they may be deployed for duties.
