LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) says will roll out mass voter registration starting May 25 to September 2, 2018 ahead of next year’s general elections.
This comes barely ten months before the polls despite also no political party in the country has held a convention for their torch bearers.
Announcing the roll out of the voters registration, MEC Chairperson Dr. Jane Ansah in the capital Lilongwe on Friday during the national elections consultative forum disclosed that the exercise will be in six phases.
The MEC Chairperson says will be conducting proof of concept on April 29 in Karonga, Mchinji and Nsanje in readiness of the exercise.
The commission has therefore directed that sub\mission of names of monitors and roving monitors should be extended to May 11, 2018 to allow process the centralised Identity Cards (IDs).
Dr Ansha adds that National IDS will be used for registration which the commission will issue the voting cards
She disclosed that the electoral body will engage National Registration Bureau (NRB) on IDs processing towards the exercise.
Below is the full statement Dr. Ansah issued and available to The Maravi Post;
Greetings and welcome to you all Before I go further with my speech, we need to remember one of our colleagues. Some of us already know and others do not. On March 22, 2018, Mr Frank Lisaupata who was the President of the Malawi Democratic Party (MDP) departed to glory at his home in Monkey Bay. As a leader of the party he used to attend the NECOF. We will miss him. May I at this juncture invite all of you to stand and observe a minute of silence.MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.
Following the launch of the Tripartite Elections in Lilongwe on February 20 this year, the Commission has convened this meeting to update stakeholders on the activities that have been implemented since that time. The Commission also wants to share with stakeholders how it has prepared for the voter registration exercise that will commence on May 25 and end August 31, 2018.
These will be the areas of focus for my report this morning. Activities implemented The Commission has implemented the following activities in preparation for the commencement of registration and the entire general election:
? Recruitment of Constituency Civic and Voter Education Assistants (CCVEAS)
? Recruitment and training of master trainers
? Recruitment of Stringers
? Demonstration of the Biometric Voter Registration System
? By-elections in Malindi and Milonde wards
Recruitment and training of temporary staff The Commission advertised in the media and conducted interviews for various temporary staff that will be needed for smooth running of the registration process.
So far we have recruited and trained 200 Master Trainers. These will be trainers of Voter registration, Inspection of the Voter Register, Nomination Exercise and polling staff. The master trainers will also be assisting in the distribution and retrieval of registration materials during transition periods. They were recruited using an elaborate two-tier process whereby they had to attend oral and written interviews.
Those that did well were taken to a week-long induction course whereby at the end they also underwent an assessment and those who excelled are now engaged as master trainers. The Commission has also recruited and trained 193 Constituency Civic and Voter Education Assistants (CCVEAs). These are placed one in each constituency and they reside there. Their job is to reach out to and teach people about elections using community based interventions.
In addition they will also be monitoring the delivery of civic and voter education. The Commission has engaged 35 stringers (16 men, 19 women) who will be placed in councils to ensure that there is effective coverage of elections by media houses. They write stories which are sent to all media houses in the country. If you, all electoral stakeholders present here, have a function and you need coverage, you can contact them. We will circulate their contact details through the normal updates we provide from time to time and this information will be made available by the end of the day. The Commission has also directly recruited and will soon be conducting training for:
? Two Biometric Voter Registration Kit (BVRK) Operators per registration centre.
? BVRK Technicians
? Data Quality Control Clerks
? Warehouse Assistants
? One Voter Register Supervisor per Centre. For this Centre Supervisor position, the Commission has decentralized the recruitment process to be handled at council level through District Commissioners and District Education Managers.
Report on Local Government By-elections Pursuant to Section 23(2) of the Local Government Elections Act, the Commission, on April 10, 2018 conducted by-elections to fill the vacancies in two wards: ? Malindi Ward in Mangochi North East Constituency ? Milonde Ward in Mulanje South East Constituency The vacancies arose because of the deaths of the councilors in the two wards. The by-elections were launched through a national address on February 22, 2018 and followed by stakeholders meetings in the two wards on February 23, 2018.
The update of voters’ register exercise run from March 1 to 5, 2018 in all the two wards. During this period, the Commission registered 2,635 voters of which 1,001 representing 38 percent were men and 1,634
representing 62 percent were women.
This brought the total number of registered voters to 34,672. The Commission received 9 nomination papers on March 7, 2018 through the respective Ward Returning Officers. Of these 9 nomination papers, only one was for a female candidate.
There were four, all male candidates, in Malindi Ward while Milonde Ward had five candidates, including the sole female contestant. Distinguished participants, the Commission received a complaint regarding creation of no-go-zone areas by some traditional leaders in Milonde Ward. This issue was dealt with by the Multiparty Liaison Committee of the district but the Commission would like to add its weight on this issue. Acts of creating no-go-zones do not augur well with the new multiparty dispensation. Those entrusted with positions of power, whether appointed or hereditary, should not engage in political behavior.
Further, it saddens me and the entire Commission that these by-elections were also tainted by intimidation and acts of violence. Such reports painted a picture that is totally inconsistent with Malawi’s democratic values and principles as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi. The Commission was been informed that there were individuals or groups of people who came all the way from Lilongwe and Blantyre to cause or perpetrate violence.
MEC took a further step by requesting the officer in-charge of the Police to beef up security in the by-election ward. This was done, especially on polling day. All cases of violence are currently being investigated by the Police. Through this Forum, I would like to appeal to all political parties in the country to desist from politics of violence and intimidation. All political players are requested to adhere to the Code of Conduct for Political Parties and Candidates as they conduct their campaigns during the 2019 Tripartite elections Polling for the by-elections took place on April 10, 2018.
All centres opened on time and run uninterrupted. Counting of results began immediately after close of polls at the same centre where polling took place. Out of a total of 34,672 registered voters in both wards, a total of 8,928 voters turned out for voting representing an average turnout of 25.7 percent for both wards. In Malindi Ward, out of 15,647 registered voters, a total of 5,287 registered voters turned up for polling representing 33.79 % voter turnout. There were 84 null and void votes.
In Milonde Ward, with a total of 19,025 registered voters, a total of 3,597 registered voters turned up for polling. This represents 19.14% voter turnout. There were 44 null and void votes. The Commission announced the final results on April 11 in Blantyre with the winners as follows: ? .Kassim Abiewa Limam of United Democratic Front with 2,735votes ? Mike Skinner, Democratic Progressive Part, (DPP) 2,719 votes.
I wish to express the Commission’s concern regarding the low participation of women as candidates in this particular. Only one candidate was a woman. Use of National ID as sole proof of eligibility
The Commission has planned that the National ID should be the sole proof of eligibility during registration of voters. The Commission is aware that not all eligible voters are registered with NRB and also for those already registered, not all have received their IDs. There are measures put in place to address these cases. For those who already registered, we encourage them to go and collect their IDs now and keep them safe. For those who did not register, the Commission is encouraging them to register now and keep safely the slip they will get while waiting for their national ID. For those who will have not registered by the time voter registration commences, there are teams from NRB that will be put in strategic places in each constituency so that such people should register first with NRB and then register as voter with MEC.
We have come up with constituency-strategic centres whereby we have minimized the average distance one has to cover if referred to register first with NRB. After registering with NRB, the registrants will need to bring the registration slip from NRB to the Commission. The slip has a quick response (QR) code that looks the same as that on the actual ID. This will be scanned to capture details of the registrant. It works the same way as a national ID. The Commission is also aware that some people registered with NRB but lost their national IDs, or the chip has been damaged. These people will be referred to the NRB teams whereby they will scan their fingers. Using fingerprint technology, the machine will recognize them and print a slip with their details. This slip will be taken to MEC registration centre and used for voter registration.
The Commission remain cognizant of the fact that the law as its stands provides for other forms of proof of eligibility. It is specifically provided at section 23 of the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act, for example, that a person seeking to be registered as a voter shall present to a registration officer sufficient and cogent proof of eligibility by producing any of a number of IDs listed under that provision and may also do so by producing written, verbal or visual testimony of a chief, village headman or a registered voter of the area.
The Commission is not seeking to circumvent this law. That is why every person eligible as envisaged by the Constitution and Acts of Parliament will be registered. The Commission’s insistence on prior registration with NRB is for the purposes of creation of the most credible Voters’ Register that has ever been created before. Phases for voter registration The Commission has come up with six phases of 14 days each for the registration exercise. There will be a three-day transition period in between phases to allow the Commission to retrieve materials and also move staff from one place to the locations of the next phase. From phase five to six, the transition period will be five days as distance to be travelled from districts in phase five to districts in phase six will be a long one. In constituting the phases the Commission followed the pattern of distribution of national IDs by the NRB.
The phase are as follows:
? Phase 1: May 25 to June 7, 2018
The councils to be covered are Kasungu District, Kasungu Municipality, Nkhotakota District, Ntchisi District, Dowa District and Mchinji District.
? Phase 2: June 11 to 24, 2018
The councils to be covered are Likoma District, Salima District, Lilongwe District and Lilongwe City
? Phase 3: June 28 to July 11, 2018
The councils to be covered are Dedza District, Ntcheu District, Blantyre District,Blantyre City and Nsanje District
? Phase 4 : July 15 to 28, 2018
The councils to be covered are Chiradzulu District, Mwanza District, Neno District, Thyolo District, Luchenza Municipality, Phalombe District, Mulanje District and Chikwawa District
? Phase 5: 1August to August 14, 2018
The councils to be covered are Mangochi District, Mangochi Town, Balaka District, Machinga District, Zomba District and Zomba City
? Phase 6: August 20 to 2September, 2018
The councils to be covered are Chitipa, Karonga, Rumphi,Nkhata Bay District , Mzuzu City and Mzimba District
For those who were there in 2014, you will notice that we have started the registration process much earlier and also finished much earlier. For the previous Tripartite Elections registration of voters ran from July 22 to December 15, 2014.
We want to have time to build a credible voters roll as we have always wanted and that should there be issues we should have enough time to deal with them. We would like to have the register in place at least six months to the polls. I should hasten to advise that, depending on circumstances, there can be changes effected to this schedule.
All changes shall be duly communicated through direct communication but also through the media. That notwithstanding, stakeholders should always crosscheck with the Commission when planning their activities around this schedule. Extension of phases of voter registration.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, the Commission is not interested and will not extend registration in any area just because people will not register in large numbers. We are aware of the voter registration figures, and all projections that are out there. We are aware that stakeholders will be comparing the 2018 voter registration figures against all these sources. That is fine and good. However, I should say that negative variance of the 2018 voter registration figures against the existing figures will not in any way compel the Commission to extend or re-open registration in any area. Voter registration is not compulsory in Malawi.
So it can happen some people can opt not to register. Therefore, it is the responsibility of all of us here to ensure that we mobilize people to register when the exercise commences. Political parties are busy conducting rallies and we appeal to you that one of the issues you should focus on is encouraging people to register.
You need votes in 2019 and that begins with people registering. However, the Commission may in very exceptional cases, allow extension of registration period in circumstances where the process has been disturbed for a full day or more. In such situation the period of extension shall be automatic at the end of the phase and shall be equivalent to the period the centre was not operational. Let me emphasise that such extensions will only apply to the centres affected. That means all the other centres will close at the end of the phase while the other centres extend their period of registration.
We will put in place measures to communicate this extension through direct messages but also the radio. It is a legal requirement that the Commission should open centres for a minimum of 14 days for voter registration. Otherwise we were of the opinion that we could finish the exercise in lesser days considering that the system we will use is much faster and less involving as compared to that of the manual data input previously employed.
Eligibility to register as a voter
In Malawi the law requires that a registrant should:
? be a citizen, if not then they should have been ordinarily resident in Malawi for seven years;
? have attained age of 18
? and is ordinarily resident in that constituency, or was born there or is employed or carries on a business there.
So people will be free to register in any of the four places where they qualify to register. It is not restrictive that anyone will register where they registered with the National Registration Bureau. We are aware the NRB is registering anyone above the age of 16. MEC will register only those that will attain the age of 18 during the period of Voter Registration i.e. from 25th May, 2018 to 2nd September, 2018.
Our registration kits have been programmed that they will not allow underage to register. It will automatically deny that card. The Commission has engaged the NRB who have assured that registration of residents not having Malawian citizenship will start before the commencement of voter registration. All ordinary residents non-Malawians who qualify to register as voters, will be required to register with NRB and then come to register as voters.
We also have measures in place to have inmates to register in prisons. There are already prisoners who registered during the mass registration by NRB and these will register as voters easily. For those who did not register, they will be given a chance to register as citizens and then voters. Teams of NRB and MEC will be dispatched to the prisons.
Registration for the Diaspora The electoral laws do not allow the Commission to conduct voter registration and let alone voting in the Diaspora. If there is anyone out there who wants to vote or contest in any of the three elections, they should come back home and register first as a voter. If they miss it at registration, it means all their hopes of voting, becoming a Ward councilor, Member of Parliament or even the next State President, are shattered. We appeal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and all Diaspora groupings to help spread this message to all their members. They need to come and present themselves physically and register at the centre they want to cast their vote. Proof of concept on voter registration The Commission will be conducting proof of concept on April 29, 2018 in Karonga, Mchinji and Nsanje.
In Karonga the exercise will take place at Mwenilondo Primary School in Karonga Central, in Mchinji it will be at Kamwendo Primary
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School in Mchinji West Constituency while in Nsanje it will be at Dinde Primary School in Nsanje South West Constituency. This will be done because we are embarking on a new type of registration and we have to test it on the ground to see how what we have planned will work.
We would like to assure you all that using the national ID to capture voters is the best course of action and will work well. Placing of monitors by Parties and CSOs The Commission had set April 10, as the deadline for submission of names of Roving Monitors and Station Monitors for the registration process. There is no single political party that managed to submit all the requirements before the deadline. So the Commission has directed that submission of names of monitors and Roving Monitors should be extended to 11th May 2018 to allow process the centralized IDs.
Our appeal is that since we all have the electoral calendar, let us prepare on time to participate in the activities wherever we have to do so. We all know that in future there will be need for candidates. This is the right time to start the democratic identification process so that when time comes you should just provide the names. Let me appeal to you to be gender sensitive in this process. I will tackle this aspect in detail later in this report.
Public mobilization for voter registration Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I might have tackled it in passing but allow me to expound more. Everyone is interested in having everyone registered. So, it is our collective responsibility to ensure that we mobilize the public to register. May I appeal to political parties to use your rallies and party structures to spread this message to all your members and followers. The MEC accredited 117 CSOs to conduct civic and voter education. We expect all the CSOs to participate in mobilizing people to register.
For Development Partners that are considering proposals from CSOs to conduct activities around registration, please expedite the process. Time is gone. The CSOs needed the funding yesterday so that they can implement activities. I should also mention it here that there are some CSOs that implement activities like monitoring and observation of voter registration and indeed other phases of the electoral process but they do not dare to share their reports with the Commission. This tendency denies the Commission an opportunity to benefit from your observation and improve in its operations. It is a standard practice that accredited CSOs should share their activity reports with the MEC.
Traditional and faith leaders have also a crucial role in mobilizing people to register. Women empowerment It is good that am talking about this issue when no one is known as a candidate yet for the 2019 Elections.
It is high time that we , especially political parties moved from rhetoric to action. We can do better than we are at the moment regarding putting women in elected positions. Soon political parties will be going to conventions and conducting primary elections.
We need to seize the opportunity to review political party constitutions and include issues of gender. Political parties also need to provide level playing field and encourage women to participate as candidates. Women are not crying to be given free position but that the process should be smoothened so that it is gender friendly and not hostile.
It is gratifying to lose in a credible process than to drop on the way because of masculine hostility. Social media frenzy and rumours.
We are going into season of rumours where some people can just wake up and cook anything about anyone. As leaders we need to be careful with what we share on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.
Do not glorify unverified rumours by commenting or forwarding them to anyone. Also remember that we have a new law in place.
Concluding remarks
The Commission is grateful to all Development Partners, and of particular mention the European Union, for supporting the electoral process through the basket funding. With these remarks, allow me to sit down. I thank you all most sincerely for your attention. May God bless you all! And May God bless Malawi.
