Malawi Extends Voter Registration in Targeted Electoral Effort
The announcement reaffirms the Electoral Commission's commitment to conducting "free, fair, and credible elections" in September.
LILONGWE, Malawi— The Malawi Electoral Commission announced Thursday a supplementary voter registration exercise targeting specific populations in two phases across multiple districts, addressing court-ordered compliance gaps ahead of the September 16 national election, writes Winston Mwale.
The commission will conduct registration from January 27-28 in 14 districts, including Nkhata Bay, Kasungu, and Blantyre, followed by a second phase from February 2-3 covering 14 additional districts, including Chitipa, Karonga, and Mzuzu City.
Sangwani Mwafulirwa, director of media and public relations, emphasized that this is not a general voter registration extension but a targeted effort for two specific groups: individuals who could not initially register due to National Registration Bureau (NRB) staffing limitations and those who obtained national ID numbers after previous registration phases.
"This exercise is designed to address specific compliance requirements," Mwafulirwa said in the public notice.
Eligible voters must have registered with the NRB by January 4 and meet strict criteria. Registration centres will operate from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with electronic devices configured to stop registrations at 4 p.m. on February 3.
The commission stressed that individuals who did not register for reasons unrelated to NRB service availability will not be included in this supplementary process.
Detailed lists of registration centres and expected registrant numbers are available on the commission's specified web links.
The announcement reaffirms the Electoral Commission's commitment to conducting "free, fair, and credible elections" in September.