By Zenak Matekenya
Dedza, September 11, Mana: Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has announced September 13-14, 2024 as days for pilot voter registration in Dedza, Balaka, Blantyre and Mzuzu ahead of the 2025 Tripartite Election.
Speaking Wednesday, when he briefed the District Elections Supervisory Team, Multiparty Liaison Committee, Civil Society Organizations, and the Media, MEC commissioner Richard Chapweteka said the exercise aims to test the new machine the commission has acquired.
He said the pilot registration will try to identify and fix any challenges and evaluate the effectiveness of the process so that necessary adjustments are made before rolling it out widely.
He said a team of experts that manufactured the machine will be part and parcel of the pilot registration exercise to help fix any technical hiccups that might arise.
He added that during the pilot phase, no one shall be given any document and that all the data collected shall be deleted.
Reacting to fears of data deletion proof, the commissioner said each centre has been allocated a machine specifically programmed for it.
“The machine cannot work at any other centre apart from the one which it was allocated to. Besides, before starting the registration, monitors shall verify the machine has no data,” he said.
He warned against the tendency of registering more than once during the actual registration saying the machine will detect any duplicate regardless of the place of registration and that legal action will be taken against any suspect.
District Commissioner for Dedza Thomas Chigwenembe urged the stakeholders to take the information to the communities without twisting it.
Malawi Congress Party secretary for Dedza Philomon Harrison Ngozo hailed MEC for the awareness saying political parties will take an active role to sensitize their followers about the development.
He said as a party they see no problem with the machine.
Phase two of the pilot registration is expected to start next week and targets Chitipa, Neno and Nsanje districts and Lilongwe City.
