Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja says the electoral body will today undertake a pre-inspection of the ballot papers in polling centres to verify if they have the right materials and quantities.
Addressing the media at Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe last evening, she said that as of yesterday MEC had distributed polling materials and deployed staff to most of the centres.
Mtalimanja, a judge of the High Court of Malawi, added that the target was to reach the remaining centres within last night so that all centres will have the materials checked today.
She said in the event that there are some anomalies, MEC will address the issues before the polling day.
“We are calling on political parties and candidates to send their representatives who have been accredited by MEC to be part of the inspection exercise,” said Mtalimanja.
She further indicated that MEC will not carry out parliamentary and local government elections in some constituencies and wards where some candidates have died.
However, Mtalimanja said MEC will still conduct the election across all polling centres nationwide, urging people to turn up and vote.
She also stressed MEC will use both manual and electronic system in verification and management of the results.
“No one is voting using a machine and no vote is being counted using a machine,” said Mtalimanja.
She said the official results will be announced when both manual and electronic results have been tallied.
About 7.2 million registered voters are expected to cast ballots in the general election which will determine the presidency, 227 parliamentary seats and 502 local government positions.
Lawrence Chaziya of Lilongwe Chilobwe Constituency was declared winner as he went unopposed, the same with Hilton Masache of Nyang’amiro Ward in the same area.
There are 17 presidential candidates in the race, including two former presidents Peter Mutharika and Joyce Banda who are among incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera’s challengers.
MEC suspended elections in Blantyre West Constituency following death of a candidate councillorship elections in 6 wards following the deaths of candidates in the areas.
The vote for presidency will be conducted under new electoral boundaries and a 50-percent-plus-one rule for presidential candidates, introduced after the 2020 court sanctioned elections.
