Malawians last night went to bed without an idea of the outcome of the September 16 General Election as Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) said results are yet to get to the national tally centre in Lilongwe.
MEC chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja told the media at Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe last evening that delayed retrieval, verification and transportation of the manual results sheets from polling stations through constituency and district levels have affected flow.
She said nearly all polling station results have now been retrieved at constituency tally centres, but none have been presented at the national tally centre.
Said Mtalimanja: “As of 8pm [yesterday], we had retrieved results from 15 127 out of 15 148 polling stations, representing 99.86 percent.
“Only 21 polling stations remain. However, these results must first pass through constituency and district tally centres before reaching us here at the National Tally Centre.”
She said the law requires district returning officers to physically deliver complete sets of verified results from their councils before MEC can start considering them.
“The commission will not receive incomplete results from the councils and neither will the councils receive incomplete results from the constituencies. This process will take time,” stressed Mtalimanja, a judge of the High Court of Malawi.
By close of business yesterday, results retrieval from polling stations to constituency tally centres was completed in most councils, including Chitipa, Karonga, Rumphi, Mzuzu City, Nkhata Bay, Likoma, Kasungu, Ntchisi, Dowa, Salima, Mchinji, Lilongwe City, Ntcheu (save for one centre), Mangochi, Balaka, Machinga, Zomba City, Chiradzulu, Phalombe, Mulanje, Blantyre District, Neno and Luchenza Municipality.
Retrieval was still underway in Mzimba, Nkhotakota, Lilongwe, Dedza, Zomba, Blantyre City, Mwanza, Thyolo, Chikwawa and Nsanje.
On the electronic front, Mtalimanja said the commission had received 28 506 scanned results forms from polling stations, representing 69.19 percent of the 41198 expected forms for the three elections—presidential, parliamentary and local government.
She emphasised that these will only be considered once physical copies arrive from district councils.
Said Mtalimanja: “For party and candidate representatives at the National Tally Centre, the commission will make available a printed copy of each result sheet, but this printing will only begin once the physical records have been delivered.”
She acknowledged mounting public concern over delays and reports of network glitches during transmission, but clarified that most issues were technical rather than network-related.
“We are also intensifying monitoring of all constituency tally centres to ensure any problems are addressed promptly,” said Mtalimanja.
Meanwhile, during an earlier briefing, the MEC chairperson warned that premature victory claims and political pressure could erode public confidence in the electoral process during this sensitive period.
Reacting to the development, Political Science Association of Malawi publicity secretary Mavuto Bamusi, who was present at the media briefing, warned that the delays were fuelling premature claims that could inflame tensions.
He rated the polling process “8 out of 10” in terms of fairness, but said results management needed closer scrutiny.
Meanwhile, Malawi Congress Party and Democratic Progressive Party yesterday separately called for transparency and calm while urging supporters to wait for official results.
Mtalimanja also demystified the threshold for winning the presidential race, saying the victor must get at least 50 percent-plus-one of valid votes cast and not of registered voters or total votes cast.
Under Section 98 of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act, MEC has eight days, 14 days and 21 days to announce presidential, parliamentary and local government results, respectively.
