Polling staff yesterday conducted pre-inspection of ballot papers and other materials in polling stations nationwide to verify correctness and quantities ahead of today’s general election.
The exercise was held nationwide. Checks in Blantyre South West, Blantyre City Chigumula BCA-Club Banana and Blantyre City Chilomoni-Kabula-Nancholi constituencies indicated that the exercise proceeded smoothly without major glitches.
At Nankumba Primary School in Blantyre South West Constituency, polling staff opened the cartons of ballots in the presence of party representatives to ensure they received the right quantities.
The centre received 15 cartons of 3000 ballot papers each for the presidential, parliamentary and local government elections.
In addition, the centre received five biometric voter identification devices which will be used for fingerprint verification.
Other materials deployed included cardboard boxes for mounting polling booths, envelopes, biometric kits, calculators, stationery, gas cylinders and banners.
However, polling staff and party representatives at Catholic Institute Primary School in Blantyre City Chilomoni-Kabula-Nancholi Constituency agreed to open the cartons at 5am today.
During the exercise, party representatives recorded serial numbers of the ballot boxes which will be cross-checked before voting starts.
Other activities conducted included briefing of political party representatives on the polling day procedures and demonstration of the setup of each polling station.
One of the party representatives at Nankumba Primary School Livingson Kaliati, said the exercise provided adequate preparation ahead of polling day.
Meanwhile, constituency returning officers yesterday continued to process applications from polling staff and political party representatives to allow them to vote away from centres they registered.
At the Bingu International Convention Centre National Tally Centre, the activity reached its peak yesterday with MEC chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja confirming that the nerve centre of the vote was fully set up to receive results.
“In terms of readiness, we are prepared to go,” she said, noting that a few polling stations in Lilongwe that experienced delays in receiving materials by Sunday finally got them by Monday morning and had started training polling staff.
Mtalimanja, a judge of the High Court of Malawi, said MEC had also been monitoring the setup by media houses inside the national tally centre to ensure they are ready to report live results as they come in.
On the political front, parties say they are entering the vote with both campaign structures and legal redress mechanisms in place.
In an interview, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Shadric Namalomba said the party has deployed polling agents across the country and mobilised legal teams to monitor compliance with electoral laws.
People’s Democratic Party spokesperson Rhodes Msonkho struck a similar tone, saying the party has built robust structures to protect the integrity of the vote and is ready to concede if the process is free and fair.
Efforts to get comments from other parties and candidates proved futile.
