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Supplementary voter registration to cost K7bn

Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) says it has set aside K7 billion for the supplementary voter registration exercise for the September 16 2025 General Election set to start tomorrow in 1 974 centres nationwide. Briefing journalists in Blantyre at the weekend, MEC chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja said the funds are enough for the exercise which will be conducted in three phases from January 21 to February 3 2025.

She said : “ T his supplementary voter registration has 1974 centres and we are target ing a maximum of 271 854 people who registered with National Registration Bureau [NRB] between October 21 2024 and January 4 2025 and would be 18 years and above by September 16 2025.” Mtalimanja, a judge of the High Court of Malawi, further said voter registration centres have been established where the targeted people can easily go and register.

Mtalimanja: We have set aside the funds | Nation

Th e supplementary voter registration exercise conducted last year.

On the other hand, for the second and third phases, MEC will target people who applied for national IDs but could

 not register due to delays in receiving their unique national identification (ID) number.

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 identification for one to register as a voter.

In an earlier interview yes terday, Democrat i c Progressive Party (DPP) spokesper son Shadr i c Namalomba supported the 

 decision to limit the repeat phases to only those who were unable to register due to national ID challenges.

However, Alliance for Democracy spokesperson Annie Maluwa yesterday said the supplementary exercise should have been open for everyone.

Th e first phase of the supplementary voter registration will run from January 21 to January 22 2025, targeting Mzimba, Lilongwe, Lilongwe City, Mangochi Municipality, Mangochi, Mwanza, Chikwawa and Nsanje.

The second phase will be conducted from January 27 to January 28 2025 while the third phase starts from February 2 to February 3.

MEC was moved to conduct the supplementary exercise by a High Court of Malawi ruling on October 25 2024 to ensure that all eligible citizens participate in the electoral process.

During the voter registration exercise conducted between October 21 and December 11 2024, the commission registered 7 162 127 people out of 10 957 490 people projected by the National Statistical Office.

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