UDF wants voters’ roll published
United Democratic Front president (UDF) Atupele Muluzi has asked the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to immediately publish the voters’ roll in centres where registration has been concluded.
But MEC has dismissed the request, saying the voters’ roll will only be published for public viewing after the entire registration process which ends in December this year.
MEC has so far registered 1 986 500 voters in the first three phases which covered most parts of the Southern Region. Currently, the voter registration exercise is taking place in Zomba, Machinga and Balaka districts, Zomba City and also Phalombe North and Phalombe Central constituencies.
In an interview with Capital Radio, Atupele said providing the voters’ roll now would help in promoting transparency as the nation moves towards the tripartite elections on May 20 next year.
He said UDF will issue a statement to clarify the statement either today or tomorrow.
Civil rights activist Billy Mayaya supported Atupele, saying the call is pertinent because it adds value to a free, fair and accessible elections process.
Said Mayaya: “Political parties must collectively engage MEC to demand verification of the voters’ roll now and not later. The proposed verification in March is not realistic as it will clash with other events and time will be the major factor in rectifying anomalies.
“MEC is obliged under the law to facilitate a credible process and civil society believes that [the electoral body] will heed these concerns.”
He added that the publication of the voters’ roll is imperative in allaying fears about rigging, although the civil society has full confidence that MEC will act accordingly in tandem with the public interest.
MEC spokesperson Sangwani Mwafulirwa said the issue of voters’ roll inspection was dealt with recently at a national elections consultative forum where delegates agreed that inspection will be done after the registration exercise across the country.
He said MEC is currently releasing statistics of registered voters at centre, ward, constituency and district level but insisted that publication of the voters’ roll will be published after the registration exercise countrywide.
