DPP turns to court on IDs

Dust is refusing to settle on the controversy surrounding use of national identity cards (IDs) as the sole identification for voter registration with opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) plotting a court challenge.

In an interview yesterday, DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba described the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Act, which prescribes the use of the ID as the only form of identification, as a bad law.

He said the former governing party’s legal team was processing paperwork to challenge it.

Asked why DPP wants to challenge the same law that they gave input during deliberations and subsequent passing, Namalomba said the government side, which has a majority of members of Parliament (MPs) under the Tonse Alliance  is responsible for enactment of the law.

“This is a bad law, it will disenfranchise voters. Government commands the majority numbers in Parliament. They used simple majority and bypassed the Constitution,” he said.

DPP’s court move comes after the party said in July this year it would lobby legislators to push for a constitutional amendment to change the requirement that only national ID holders will be eligible to register as voters

Namalomba also tore into the new election management devices (EMDs) which he said only recognises one form of identification, the national ID.

And speaking yesterday in Mzuzu after an orientation meeting with civil society organisations and the media on EMDs, MEC chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja said the devices only recognise a valid national ID, an expired ID and a system-generated receipt with an ID number as the law stipulates.

She said: “MEC works within framework of the law and the law as it stands right now recognises that proof of eligibility for voter registration and voting itself is the national ID. So, MEC is working within the law.”

Mtalimanja, a judge of the High Court of Malawi, said it was not within MEC’s scope to facilitate further discussion on the national ID as the only tool for identification.

“Should Parliament change the law then MEC will abide by it as it would be passed,” she said.

Parliament on December 13 2022 passed the amended Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Election Bill, which President Lazarus Chakwera signed into law on February 18 2023.

The law put in place a comprehensive legal framework for the regulation of the three elections in the country.

Section 4 (12) of the Act states that a person who is eligible to be registered as a voter in an election shall, as proof of eligibility, present in person to a registration officer, proof of his or her national registration issued by National Registration Bureau (NRB).

On his part, UTM Party publicity secretary Felix Njawala said yesterday that they have no issues with the devices because MEC assured the party during orientation that the EMDs support other forms of identification.

He said the party’s information and communications technology team will soon engage MEC on security concerns regarding the EMDs.

In a written response, Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace national coordinator Boniface Chibwana said that electoral processes should be as consultative and inclusive as possible to ensure that all views from stakeholders are taken on board.

However, he faulted DPP on its decision to go to court, saying it would be a rushed move to argue that the eligibility criteria of having national IDs as the sole form of identification was discriminatory.

Said Chibwana: “The process went through Parliament and we believe Parliament is a representative institution. Consultations were done before coming up with that piece of legislation.

“It would be prudent to test the system first and if there will be major challenges such that a significant number of people will be disenfranchised, then maybe we can consider other options.”

He also said the training sessions that MEC is conducting on the EMDs were a good step towards enhancing efficiency in the process.

Malawi Electoral Support Network coordinator Andrew Kachaso agreed with Chibwana, saying while electoral processes have to be consultative, it would be imprudent to discard voter eligibility criteria before trying it.

“Any change to this requirement would need to follow a legal process. But it is generally advisable not to introduce or amend laws close to elections to maintain stability and consistency in the electoral process,” he said.

Kachaso also observed that if parties who passed electoral laws now seek amendments or alternative identification methods, it suggests that they have identified potential issues or gaps in the legislation that need to be addressed and possibly reviewed for future elections.

In a previous communiqué, Malawi Law Society (MLS) noted that while Section 77 of the Constitution gives all persons a right to vote in any general election, any impediment to the actualisation of this right goes against the tenets of liberal democracy, suggesting disagreement with restricting proof of eligibility to the national ID.

NRB has insisted that every eligible voter, including the 2.2 million potential new voters, will have their national ID cards ahead of voter registration.