Low voter turn out haunts supplementary registration
The second phase of the supplementary voter registration for the September 16 General Election opened yesterday with low voter turnout still haunting the exercise.
It was the same last week when the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) rolled out the first phase of the exercise.
The second phase, which will close today, is covering Likoma, Nkhata Bay, Rumphi, Kasungu, Dowa, Mchinji, Ntcheu, Luchenza, Thyolo, Zomba and Blantyre.

During spot-checks in voter registration centres, The Nation found that many people who are being targeted for the exercise were not turning up to register.
At Catholic Institute Primary School in Blantyre, Nancholi Constituency where 200 people are expected to register, only 15 had turned up by 1pm yesterday.
In Mchinji, some of the centres also showed low turnout of people but the turnout was encouraging at Kamwendo Model and Pindah Primary School which had registered 43 and 41 people respectively by 11am.
In Kasungu, MEC commissioner Richard Chapweteka visited five centres in the morning where five people, comprising three at one centre and two at two centres, had registered.
However, he played down concerns about low turnout saying the commission conducted awareness campaigns to woo potential registrants.
“MEC has made itself available by opening the centres and those who are willing to participate in the general elections will come,” said Chapweteka.
At the registration centres, monitors for Malawi Congress Party (MCP), Democratic Progressive Party, UTM Party and United Democratic Front were also seen.
However, Alliance for Democracy spokesperson Annie Maluwa said the party has not placed monitors in any of the centres across the country because of concerns with MEC’s decision to only target people who registered with National Registration Bureau (NRB) between October 21 and January 4.
But MCP publicity secretary Jessie Kabwila said the party is satisfied that the commission is complying with the ruling of the High Court.
MEC is conducting the supplementary voter registration exercise to satisfy the High Court ruling of October 25 2024 that potential voters without national identity (ID) cards should be assisted to register with NRB and thereafter with the commission.
The Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act prescribes the national ID card or a registration notification slip issued by the NRB as the sole form of identification for one to register as a voter.
Overall, MEC is targeting to register 271 854 people in 1 974 centres during the supplementary registration exercise.
During the voter registration exercise conducted between October 21 and December 11, MEC registered 7.1 million people in 6 339 centres.
Additional reporting by Chrispine Msiska, Correspondent