MEC Chairman Remarks Before Parliament

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Date: 1st November 2023

Location: Parliament House, Lilongwe

? Honourable Chairperson

? Commissioners of the Malawi Electoral Commission

? Members of the Committee

? Chief Elections Officer

? Principal Secretary for the National Registration Bureau

? Members of the Secretariat from the Commission, Parliament, and National Registration Bureau

? Members of the Media

I wish to begin my remarks this morning by expressing our gratitude to this Committee, led by you, Honourable Chairperson, for extending an invitation to the Malawi Electoral Commission to engage in a constructive dialogue on matters pertaining to our work.

At the core of your invitation, you highlighted two key areas for discussion:

(i) Progress made on the NRB registration process, the challenges faced, and how they are being addressed.

(ii) Demonstration of how voter identification and National IDs, including biometrics, are functioning in the country.

We are grateful for your committee’s interest in these matters and will endeavour, to the appropriate possible, to address these issues as competently as possible.

The Mandate of the Malawi Electoral Commission

Before going any further, Hon Chairperson and Members, it might be necessary to outline the Commission's legal mandate. Our primary responsibility, enshrined within the Republican Constitution and the Malawi Electoral Commission Act, is to organize, supervise, and direct the conduct of all elections in Malawi. Our specific duties encompass:

(i) to determine constituency boundaries impartially on the basis of ensuring that constituencies contain approximately equal numbers of voters eligible to register

(ii) Organizing and directing the registration of voters.

(iii) Establishing voters' registers and ballot papers.

(iv) Printing, distributing, and safeguarding ballot papers and voters' registers.

In addition, the Commission has the legal authority to determine the methods of voter registration and the nature of the voters' register. This mandate distinguishes the Commission's role from that of the National Registration Bureau (NRB) in the realm of voter registration.

On the other hand, under the relevant legislation, the NRB has, among other functions, the responsibility to register all births, marriages, and deaths (within its civil registration mandate). Furthermore, anyone who attains the age of 16 years, is supposed to be issued with a national ID.

Distinction of Mandates between NRB and Malawi Electoral Commission

In that context, Hon Chairperson and Members, it becomes easy to appreciate that MEC’s voter registration is a separate process from the NRB’s civil registration process. Besides, institutionally NRB performs its functions within the Ministry of Homeland Security and reports to the Minister functionally.

As such, it is essential to underscore that the registration of voters falls exclusively under the purview of the Commission, as per the Malawi Electoral Commission Act. There is no legal provision that shares this responsibility with any other entity. Therefore, the Commission is solely accountable for the voter registration process. Likewise, NRB has exclusive responsibility for the civil registration process.

Hon Chairperson and Members, the mandates for the registration of citizens and the registration of voters are two separate statutory functions governed by distinct legal instruments and executed by different public entities. Thus, the Commission does not participate in any way in the civil registration activities of the NRB. Rather because the registration of voters relies on the presentation of a valid National ID, the Commission utilizes biometric data from the National Registration Information System in compiling our Voters' Register.

Hence, strictly speaking, the accountability for the "progress made on NRB registration process, the challenges faced, and how they are being addressed" solely rests upon the NRB, the public entity legally responsible for citizen registration.

That notwithstanding, the Commission acknowledges the need for good coordination between the two institutions in order to ensure the integrity of the National Registration Information System; we would not want a scenario where any eligible voter is disenfranchised, or the credibility of our voters’ roll is put into doubt due to challenges arising from the national civil registration process conducted by the NRB.

The Role of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

In order to enhance this institutional collaboration, we have established a written Memorandum of Understanding, which outlines in clear terms the mutual expectations and commitments between the Commission and the NRB. For example, this MOU includes the NRB's pledges to:

(i) Fulfil its mandate to register all Malawians of 16 years of age and older and issue all registrants with a National Identity Card in the prescribed form;

(ii) Put in place measures to ensure that all Malawians who shall have attained the age of eighteen on or before 16th September 2025 are registered and issued with a National Identity Card by the date projected and announced by the Commission as the last day of registration of voters;

(iii) Formulate and share a comprehensive work plan with clear projections on how the NRB intends to conduct mass registration of Malawians in a manner that is complementary to the Commission’s Voters’ Registration Process;

(iv) Maintain a protected and credible National Register which is kept up to date at all times through periodic and reliable registration of deaths, deletion, and de-duplication of registrants;

(v) Ensure that there are no registrations based on misrepresentation or falsification of age or nationality;

(vi) Ensure the quality of the national Register database that does not have inaccurate details and entries;

(vii) Ensure efficient and timely printing and issuing of National Identity Cards to all registered Malawians;

(viii) Ensure timely corrections of errors and efficient re-printing and distribution of corrected National Identity Cards.

(ix) Develop and implement a civic education strategy aimed at ensuring that information disseminated to all Malawians regarding registrations of citizens is timely and accurate;

(x) Immediately inform the Commission of any inaccuracies, errors, and mistakes in the National Register once discovered and measures to be undertaken for rectification; and

(xi) Provide the Commission with access to the National Register Database for purposes of constructing and updating the Voters’ Register.

That is the framework within which the Commission operates in its relationship with the NRB. Quite clearly the responsibility for executing the registration of citizens lies squarely upon the NRB, not MEC.

Preparation for the 2025 General Election

Hon Chairperson and Members, the Commission is diligently preparing for the registration of voters for the 2025 General Election. Some of the key activities include (a) establishment and realignment of registration centres, (b) procuring new technology and Election Management Devices to replace outdated Biometric Voter Registration Kits (BVRKs) (c) civic and voter education on proof of eligibility, (d) engaging with relevant stakeholders such as NRB.

What is proof of Registration with NRB?

Honourable Chairperson, under the current electoral law, a person can only be placed on the voters’ roll upon presentation of proof of registration with the NRB.

The issue of what is acceptable proof has received its due consideration by the Commission and with special advice by the Attorney General. The Commission is only registering as a voter a person who holds a National Identity Card issued by the National Registration Bureau. This means that at the time of registering voters, the Commission will only accept National Identity Cards as proof of registration of national registration with the National Registration Bureau. For 2025 General Elections the Voter Registration Exercise has been planned for September to November 2024 as outlined in our Operational Plan, which is available on our website, www.mec.org.mw and was shared with stakeholders at its launch on 11th August 2023.

Eligibility to Vote

While eligibility to vote is defined by several parameters, the most important factors relevant to this meeting might be:

(i) Citizenship.

(ii) legal residence in Malawi for a period of not less than 7 years.

(iii) Age.

In terms of age, a person is eligible to register to vote if he or she is 18 or will be 18 on the polling day. All the above factors are capable of being proven by the National Identity Card.

It is, therefore, incumbent on the efforts of the NRB to ensure that every person who is eligible to vote is actually placed on the civil register (National Registration Information System) and issued with acceptable proof of civil registration before the commencement of the voter registration exercise by the Malawi Electoral Commission.

The Commission plans to start registration of voters on or about the 16th day of September 2024. Therefore, for a successful voter registration exercise, all efforts to undertake civil registration by the National Registration Bureau must bear this date in mind.

Progress Made in the National Registration Process

Honourable Chairperson and Members, the progress attained in the National Registration Process so far could be assessed by this Committee using the population projections made and published by the National Statistical Office, which is a body legally mandated, and has the capacity to make population projections.

The Commission has official information regarding the projection of eligible voters from the National Statistical Office. According to this data, it is projected that the population of eligible voters in 2025 will be 10.9 million, marking a significant increase from the 6.8 million voters registered in the 2019 Tripartite Elections.

Comparatively, based on the 2018 NSO data, in 2019, the population of eligible voters was estimated to be 8.7 million, with only 6.8 million individuals actually registering to vote, representing a registration rate of 78.63%. As a matter of interest, if we had similar rates of registration for the upcoming voter registration exercise, we would add 1.8 million new voters onto the current register i.e., our voters’ register would end up with about 8.6 million registrants.

In our interactions with NRB, we have been assured that their civil registration exercise will cover this projection. However, this Committee might wish to request the latest segregated data from NRB pertaining to the actual progress achieved in their mass registration program to satisfy yourselves whether the process is on course or not (ahead of our contemplated registration of voters).

It would be interesting to see what the rate of civil registration has been so far for each council covered by NRB: for example, how many were eligible to register and how many have been issued with national ID cards per council?

Use of National IDs in Voter Registration

Hon Chairperson, the Committee might like to note that since 2019 all voter registration exercises have been done using only the National ID as proof of identity. In that vein, the recent legal amendments only codified what was already accepted electoral practice on the ground. In fact, since 2020, the current cohort of the Commission has conducted several by-elections in which only National IDs were accepted as proof of registration. A cumulative total of 25, 399 voters were added to the voters’ register without any challenges.

Since the new laws became operational on 15th June 2023the Commission has successfully conducted a local government by-election in Mtiya Ward in Zomba Central Constituency and is currently on course to conduct another by-election in Dedza Central Constituency. For example, in Mtiya ward the Commission recorded 241 new registrants, while in Dedza Central we have registered an additional 3,202 voters (making the total registered voters for the upcoming by-election to be 47,713).

However, we have had to suspend the local government by-election in Mwasa Ward in Mangochi following the events that marred the integrity of preparatory electoral processes relating to the registration of voters.

Hon Chairperson and Members, the registration of voters in Mwasa Ward was initially set for 20th to 26th August 2023. During the registration exercise reports and complaints emerged to the effect that some people were fraudulently registering with the NRB by misrepresentation and falsification of age to present themselves as eligible to register to vote. The Commission was informed that arrests were made and that the case is in court. The suspect has been charged under the National Registration Act and will be answering charges relating to being found in possession of national registration cards. Our latest inquiry with the law enforcement agencies indicates that the court case has now been referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Specifically, during voter registration in Mwasa, the Commission encountered challenges, ranging from allegations of underage civil registrations by NRB as well as alleged registration of voters (by MEC) from outside the ward. Some political party operatives obstructed the voter registration process and during stakeholder consultations, some proposed that MEC should simply abandon the whole by-election and await the general election in 2025.

In order to guarantee the integrity of the voters’ register, the Commission took a decision to suspend the process and discarded the new registration data. This was to ensure that the process was conducted afresh. However, when the electoral processes were recommenced, the security environment deteriorated largely due to the misunderstanding of the Commission’s position regarding the eligibility of voters who had been registered with NRB from July to September 2023. Hon. Chairperson, the Commission has held 9 meetings with the people of Mwasa Ward and national stakeholders in order to resolve these problems.

Throughout the whole process, Hon Chairperson, the Commission considered its legal duty of ensuring security conditions for the proper conduct of all electoral activities, including voter registration as well as the need to address the security conditions in Mwasa Ward and ensure that eligible voters are given unhindered opportunity to register to vote. The Commission believes that it has a duty to ensure the integrity and credibility of the voter register to be used in the Mwasa by-elections and will do all within its power to ensure the same is upheld.

However, there is also a need for all stakeholders to appreciate that MEC has no legal basis to suspend its constitutional responsibility to organize elections whenever a vacancy arises.

Role of Stakeholders

In view of the developments in Mwasa Ward, the Commission wishes to highlight that some of the factors that have caused the suspension of the electoral activities in Mwasa Ward have to do with the role that key stakeholders play in elections.

Hon Chairperson and Members, the Commission wishes to take this opportunity to register its concerns about allegations of attempts by some political actors to distort the voters’ roll by manipulating the numbers of those eligible to obtain a National ID. In May 2020, the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal had to stop fresh voter registration for the Fresh Presidential Elections because of similar sinister machinations. As earlier demonstrated, where no such deliberate interference occurs in the national registration process MEC has successfully undertaken many credible polls in the form of by-elections as well as Fresh Presidential Elections: but we cannot freeze all fresh registrations because of calculated attempts to manipulate the pool of eligible voters. Such attempts are inimical to genuine democratic competition; they undermine, not MEC, but the essential building blocks for our very democracy.

The source of such attempts to undermine the credibility and integrity of the voter’s register occurs outside the activities of the MEC when citizens are being registered in the civil register by the National Registration Bureau. Any political actors interfering with the national civil registration processes for their political expedience and convenience are acting against the common interests of all Malawians.

The system of voter registration currently in place has been premised on the integrity of the database of the National Registration Information System generated by the NRB: any attempts to corrupt that database erodes all benefits accrued by the choice made by Malawians in adopting the National ID as proof for registration. Any other system can equally be compromised if stakeholders choose to act with deliberate disregard for the national democratic interest guaranteed by a credible voters’ register. MEC will continue to monitor the civil registration process with keen interest and will be assessing the risks to its contemplated voter registration exercise with a view to devising appropriate mitigation measures, whether they be legal or further technological investments to curb the impact of alleged underage civil registrations on the final voters’ register.

Establishment of Registration Centres

Honourable Chairperson and Members, as you may recall Parliament approved the Commission’s recommendations for new demarcations of Boundaries for Constituencies and Wards. The Commission has been very busy with the preparatory work for readying the Registration Centres that will be used in the 2025 General Elections.

For the information of your Committee, Hon Chairperson, the Commission has conducted various field activities aimed at identifying and confirming suitable locations to be designated as registration centres within the new boundaries. In addition, in the course of this work, the Commission has had multiple engagements with various stakeholders such as the Centre for Multiparty Democracy, multi-party liaison committees as well as grassroots meetings in all 227 constituencies.

Presently, the Commission estimates that there may be up to 6,500 registration centres designated for the 2025 General Election. The Commission is in the process of finalizing the establishment of these registration centers, and the last step, which involves the approval of these centers, is slated for discussion at the upcoming Commission meeting. The Commission expects to be in a position to gazette these centers before the end of this month.

Updating Technology for Registration

Honourable Chairperson and Members, technology is key to the successful delivery of modern elections. As an elections management body that seeks to conduct its business in line with international good practices, MEC has over the years and with the support of the different stakeholders, adopted various technologies in its operations. Among these, have been Biometric Voter Registration Kits (BVRKs) that the Commission has deployed for voter registration and verification since 2017.

Over time, these BVRKs have become obsolete with age. Furthermore, it has been observed that technological advancements have rendered more efficient and easily deployable alternatives available. The Commission is grateful that Parliament appropriated funds for the procurement of new election management devices (EMDs) which will be deployed to replace the BVRKs.

Additionally, the procurement process for the Elections Management Devices is proceeding according to the planned timeline, with the aim of awarding the contract by the 17th of November 2023 and granting the Supplier an 8 to 10-week delivery period. Based on these projected timelines, we expect the Elections Management Devices (EMDs) to be provided and delivered by the 31st of January 2024. However, all this depends on the availability of forex, but we are already engaging with Treasury about this risk.

Honourable Chairperson and Members, I am pleased to advise that the Commission has made progress in the procurement process for the EMD technology, and it has set a deadline for the procurement and commissioning of the devices and underlying technologies to be concluded by 30 June 2024 in readiness for commencement of national voters’ registration in September 2024.

As you are well aware, Hon Chairperson, technologies are a sensitive area in elections. For this reason, Honourable Chairperson and Members I am pleased to assure the Committee that in regard to this technology project, the Commission has remained true to its ethos of assuring that it carries out its mandate in the most transparent and inclusive approach.

Accordingly, the Commission has undertaken various engagements with key stakeholders including the Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) and leaders of political parties at the commencement of the project. Furthermore, the Commission has approved a Stakeholder Engagement Protocol. This protocol ensures that the Commission engages with stakeholders at each stage of the process before adopting new technology for use in the electoral process, emphasizing transparency and collaboration in our decision-making.

Challenges by NRB and Proposal to Address It

As I conclude, Hon. Chairman and Members, let me emphasise that the mandate of MEC regarding this matter is strictly voter registration such that we have no jurisdiction over civil registration activities. All matters to do with the registration of citizens should not be conflated with voter registration. These statutory functions are different.

However, even though it is up to the NRB to account for how it is discharging its mandate, one would make a humble suggestion on how all stakeholders can ensure that all eligible voters are registered with the NRB and issued with national identity cards in time for the upcoming voter registration process scheduled for September 2024.

The Commission would propose that, at the minimum, the NRB should ensure that all eligible citizens are in fact given the opportunity to register in the centres designated for voter registration. Ensuring that everyone who is eligible to vote holds a valid National Identity Card is paramount for the integrity of the electoral process. If funding or other capacity limitations are the reason for their current limited approach, maybe this August House can intervene to ensure the provision of resources to NRB for a proper discharge of its civil registration mandate.

As we have indicated, the Commission is set to confirm the establishment of about 6500 registration centres. It has been observed that in its mass registration efforts, the NRB is only using about a quarter of the centres which the Commission used during the registration of voters in 2019. This makes NRB centres to be too far removed from the intended registrants and it has the potential to exclude eligible voters.

It is, therefore, strongly proposed that the NRB should, immediately after the publication of the new voter registration centres (which on Polling Day become Polling Centres) in the Gazette, roll out a comprehensive national civil registration exercise covering all centres which the Commission will use for registration of voters.

Secondly, NRB’s capacity to print and distribute cards should be seriously enhanced. Learning from our voter registration in the by-elections, it is evident that many people renewed their national IDs but are yet to have replacements. With the current interpretation of proof of registration with NRB, these citizens may not have an opportunity to register to vote if they cannot present a national ID card to our registration officers. All these suggestions would require investment of resources which we would graciously urge Parliament, through your Committee Honourable Chairperson and Members, to avail for the NRB to scale up its civil registration efforts.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is crucial to differentiate between the roles of the Commission and the NRB. Although the Commission is ready to collaborate and provide support where possible, the primary responsibility for civil registration lies with the NRB.

Our commitment to transparency and accountability remains unwavering. We look forward to a productive discussion with the Committee and are committed to ensuring a smooth and credible electoral process in 2025.

Thank you for your kind attention.