Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) says re-opening of registration centres covered during the first phase translate to additional costs to the projected $187 million (about K324 billion) budget for the September 16 2025 General Elections.
MEC indicated that it would extend the first phase of the voter registration to dates to be announced after the third phase is completed.
The decision to re-open follows a High Court of Malawi ruling ordering the National Registration Bureau (NRB) to deploy officers in all centres where MEC was carrying out the exercise.
In an interview yesterday after touring some voter registration centres such as Ekwendeni Community Day Secondary School, E k w e n d e n i C C A P, Engcongolweni and Bwengu in Mzimba North, MEC chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja said the extension has cost implications.
She said: “Extension of phase one is still in place, the days will be announced. The extension will require extra resources because we are re-doing all the councils and that means we are spending double what we budgeted for phase one. I can’t give out the figures now.”
Mtalimanja, a judge of the High Court of Malawi, argued that there was intensified civic education on the registration exercise having conducted outreach meetings with opinion leaders and communities.
S h e d i s m i s s e d suggestions that the low turnout during registration could be due to lack of civic education.
Mtalimanja said phase two was being reviewed to ascertain if it should be extended.
An expert in electoral and identity politics, Ernest Thindwa, said one challenge which may have contributed to suppressing interest to register to vote is conflicting messages in the electoral information market place originating from political parties.
In the May 2019 Tripartite Elections, MEC budgeted for K55 billion while in the June 2020 court-sanctioned fresh presidential election, the commission was allocated K29 billion.
