By Tawonga Moyo
Mzuzu, April 12, Mana: The Malawi Electoral Commission’s (MEC) Regional Elections Manager for the South, King Norman Rudi has called on Malawians who wish to vote in the 2025 general elections to register with the commission and not necessarily rely on national IDs for voting.
Rudi made the remarks on Tuesday in Mzuzu at a district youth dialogue meeting which it conducted in collaboration with Youth and Society (YAS).
The meeting, which was conducted under the Malawi Support Elections Programme, was aimed at providing a platform for young people and various stakeholders to discuss electoral processes and law reform ahead of the 2025 general elections.
“In September 2024, we will begin the process of registering prospective voters. Many people think that because they registered with the National Registration Bureau and have national IDs, then it’s enough for them to go and vote.
“That isn’t registration of voters. You will be required to register in the voter roll when registration of voters start for you to be eligible for voting. We need the media and various stakeholders to help us in disseminating this information to people,” said Rudi.
He also disclosed that in the next elections which will be held on 16th September 2025, people will cast their votes from 6AM to 4PM and that the day will be a public holiday.
In her remarks, Programmes Coordinator for Youth and Society, Mwandida Theu said as Civil Society Organizations, they have a crucial role to play in educating the masses on law reforms and to encourage them to take part in electoral processes.
“Through our project, we are also targeting young people because we understand that they have limited capacity when it comes to electoral processes. Once we educate them, it will help in ensuring a high voter turn-out,” said Theu.
Among others, Section 80 (2) of the Malawi Electoral Commission Act has been amended to provide for what should happen if the first poll does not yield a winner at the set threshold of more than fifty percent of valid votes cast.
