Mesn says 2014 election backward step
The Malawi Electoral Support Network (Mesn) says going by reports from its observers, the May 20 Tripartite Elections are not a step forward for the country as they have been marred by several challenges.
Presenting Mesn’s preliminary statement on the conduct of the 2014 Tripartite Elections to the media in Blantyre last evening, the network’s chairperson Steve Duwa said there were serious challenges with the voters’ register with the voter registration lacking sufficient transparency.
Said Duwa: “While the logistical challenges on Election Day ultimately did not undermine the credibility of the process, neither did it build confidence. Elections are no longer new. By now, voters, candidates and parties should all be able to expect that the Malawi Electoral Commission [MEC] can successfully manage logistical issues.”
He said the preliminary report is not Mesn’s final statement on the elections as it will continue to observe the process through its conclusion. He said Mesn will also make a statement after MEC announces the official results on the accuracy of the official results for the presidential election.
He said Mesn is continuing to observe the process, including at polling centres where voting is still taking place and describing the elections as free and fair at this moment when voting at other polling centres is still in progress would be dangerous.
Mesn’s preliminary report indicates that while the start of voting was seriously delayed at 13 percent of polling stations and did not take place at less than one percent of polling stations, Mesn observers report that once voting commenced, the process, while not perfect, proceeded in generally uniform manner consistent with MEC’s procedure.
The parallel vote tabulation (PVT) method of certifying electoral results has been used in several countries in Africa, including Ghana, Kenya, Zambia and (in 1999) Malawi, with a lot of success.
In the 1999 Malawi presidential election, the PVT gave Bakili Muluzi a 48.9-53.0 range; he emerged winner with 52.4 percent of the national count.
When he launched the PVT parallel voter tabulation centre in Blantyre last week, Duwa said they will use a multi-faceted approach in observing the current poll.
