The 2025 election is expected to be highly competitive. If the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) statistics on youth participation in the 2019 election are anything to go by, youths are expected to form close to 60 percent of the voting population. These are voices that the country cannot afford to leave out in the September 2025 General Elections.
The number of potential youthful voters is also a reflection of the country’s population dynamics. In a country where 80 percent of the population is below the age of 35, the youth constitute a significant force for change, including political. However, many of them are left behind when it comes to political and policy leadership. And, if left unchecked, this could translate to poor political participation by youths in general, including low voter turnout.
Yet, for the country’s political system to be representative, all parts of society must be included. When young people are d i s e n f r a n c h i s e d o r disengaged from political processes, a significant portion of the population has little or no voice or influence in decisions that affect them. A key consequence is the undermining of our political system because of a lack of representation.
While political leaders and institutions in the country have expressed commitment to empower the youth to contribute positively to the country’s development instead of just being used for political campaigns, the policy is not translating to implementation on the ground. An initiative of civil society organisations in the run-up to the June 2020 presidential election re-run, the Youth Decide Campaign (YDC), made effor ts towards giving young people a voice in the country’s political decision making. They developed a Youth Manifesto for presidential candidates to sign, but not much has come out of that manifesto. To date, voices of youths remain suppressed in the country, raising questions around government’s commitment to addressing the interests of young Malawians.
As the 2025 elections fast approach, it is important to reflect on this issue and see to it that young voices are not left out in the country’s political discourse. Arguably, youth votes can help shape representation of young people in political leadership, as youths are likely to vote for people that relate to and represent their interests.
There is, therefore, need to foster an environment where the youth can fully utilise their civic duty to participate in the elections in various way s – – f rom voting to contesting in the parliamentary, presidential and local government level. This requires equipping youths with the tools and opportunities to take action in shaping the country’s political landscape.
One of the challenges that is proving thorny, particularly among the opposition political parties, is the perceived barriers to registration which may worsen voter turnout among the youth. For the first time, MEC has announced that it will only allow the national identity (ID) card for voter identification, as prescribed by law. However, there seems to be genuine concerns around the reach of the National Registration Bureau to all potential registrants, particularly in rural areas where the majority of the country’s population is found.
Some have called for electoral reforms that would help reduce these challenges and encourage young people to vote, such as having NRB conduct registration at MEC voter registration centres to enable eligible voters who do not have the National ID to register. So far, both MEC and NRB have declined this proposal.
As time progresses, other reforms may have to be adopted to move with the times and increase youth voter participation, one suc h reform is digital voting. The world has gone di g i tal and many youths these days actively engage on digital platforms. MEC itself has expressed preference for electronic vote counting mechani sms over the manual vote counting that opposition political parties are advocating. The paper-based voting that Malawi is still using can limit participation, as it requires one to be physically present at a voting station. But if managed well and in a transparent manner, digital voting could help more youthful voters to participate. Importantly, the time is ripe for political parties to be intentional about including and supporting young people, both male and female, to be on candidate lists in the next elections. It makes sense that the demographic that is in majority should have their interest reflected in leadership positions, where they can effectively work to address youth issues and contribute to development by actually putting in the work.
