MESN national review conference JUNE 2014

1. INSTITTUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT
FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF
ELECTIONS IN MALAWI
THE CASE OF 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTIONS
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2. OUTLINE OF THE PRESENTATION
• Overview of the Malawi Electoral Commission
– Legal framework
– Institutional arrangement
• 2014 Tripartite Electoral process
• Challenges
• Recommendations
• Conclusion
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3. OVERVIEW OF THE MEC
• The Constitution of the Republic of Malawi
especially Chapter VII
• Electoral Commission Act no. 11 of 1998 (ECA)
• Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act no.
31 of 1993 (PPEA)
• Local Government Elections Act no. 24 of 1996
(LGEA)
• Others Local Government Act, Communications
Act, etc
• Codes of Conduct to be turned into regulations
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4. Legal framework
• Section 75 of the Constitution establishes the
Commission as a body to administer elections
• Composition – not less than 6 members
appointed in consultation with leaders of political
parties represented in the National Assembly
• The Chair is nominated by the Judicial Service
Commission and must be a Judge
• Both the Chair and members serve for four years
from the date of appointment
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5. Legal framework cont’d
• Cessation of membership:
– At the expiry of term of office i.e 4 years
– If any circumstance arise that if they were not a
Commissioner, he or she would be disqualified for
appointment
– Removal by the President on the recommendation
of the Public Appointments (and Declaration of
Assets) Committee of Parliament on the grounds
of incapacity or incompetence in the performance
of duties of that office
– Resignation MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW
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6. Legal framework cont’d
• Section 76(2) of the Constitution provides Powers and
functions of the Commission
• To determine the number of constituencies for the purpose of
elections impartially on the basis of ensuring that
constituencies contain approximately equal number of voters
eligible to register subject only to considerations of –
population density; ease of communication; and
geographical features and existing administrative
boundaries;
• To undertake or supervise the demarcation of boundaries of
constituencies and review the existing boundaries at intervals
of not more than five years and alter them in accordance with
the principles laid down above
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7. Legal framework cont’d -functions
• To determine electoral petitions and complaints
in relation to the conduct of any elections;
• To organize and direct registration of voters;
• To devise and establish voters registers and
ballot papers;
• To ensure compliance with the provisions of the
Constitution and any other Act of Parliament;
• To perform such other functions as may be
prescribed by the Constitution or an Act of
Parliament.
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8. Legal framework cont’d -functions
• To take measures and to do such other things
as are necessary for conducting free and fair
elections.
• To establish and operate polling stations;
• To promote public awareness of electoral
matters through the media and any other
appropriate and effective means and to
conduct civic and voter education on such
matters;
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9. Legal framework cont’d –indep.
• Section 76(4) of the Constitution - Independence
• The appointment process and tenure ensures
independence
• “The Electoral Commission shall exercise its powers,
functions and duties under this section independent of any
direction or interference by other authority or any person”
• ECA: For purposes of discharging the functions and
exercising the powers conferred upon it by the
Constitution, or any other written law relating to elections,
the Commission shall freely communicate with the
Government and any political party or any candidate,
person or organisation
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10. Institutional arrangement
• Section 4 of the ECA provides for the appointment
of Commissioners
• Section 12 of the ECA provides for the
Appointment of the Chief Elections Officer
• Section 13 of the ECA provides for the
appointment of all staff of the Commission and
seconded staff
• Eight Directorates (Administration & Human
Resources, Audit, Civic & Voter Education, Electoral
Services, Finance, Information and Communication
Technology, Media & PR and Legal, )
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11. Institutional arrangement Cont’d
• Three Regional Elections Offices located in
Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu
• Elections Clerks located in Local Council
offices which will grow as aspired in the
strategic plan
• Most of the work is done by temporary staff
hired from time to time and numbers and
skills vary from activity to activity
• Teachers in their schools were offered to work
for registration, inspection MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW
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and polling

12. 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTORAL
PROCESS
• Re-introduced National Elections Consultative
Forum (NECOF) for consultations and updates
with electoral stakeholders on its activities
• Developed a 5 (2013-2017) year strategic plan
• Accredited 107 civic and voter education
providers to carry out the function
• In consultation with users developed codes of
conduct for political parties, CVE providers,
Media and for Traditional Leaders
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13. 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTORAL PROCESS
cont’d
• Demarcation of wards was in 35 local councils
which came up with 462 wards and 4445
registration centres
• Commission opted for a biometric voter
registration system because of the
unreliability of the output of the OMR system
but due to stakeholder concerns, the wish was
shelved to the next elections
• OMR registration system was implemented
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14. 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTORAL PROCESS
cont’d
• Registration was done in 10 phases of 14days
each from 22 July to 18 December 2013
• Preliminary count came showed 7,537,548 voters
were registered against a projection of 8,009,734
which is 94.1%
• 3,481,365 were men representing 46.19 percent
while 4,056,183 were women representing 53.81
percent.
• The scanning process commenced during the 2nd
phase and was through by mid March 2014 after
which an interim voters’ roll
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15. 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTORAL PROCESS
cont’d
• Nomination was provided 5 days from 10th to
14th February 2014 for all the three elections
• Presidential candidates presented their papers
directly to the Commission whereas
Parliamentary and Local Government Elections
candidates presented their papers to
Constituency Returning Officers (CROs) in
councils
• Twelve presidential candidates presented
nomination papers ( 2 women and 2 women
running mates MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW
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16. 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTORAL
PROCESS cont’d
• For parliamentary elections 1293 presented
candidates of which 259 were females.
• Elections were held in 192 of the 193
constituencies due to death of a candidate in
Blantyre North
• For Local Government Elections there were 2378
candidates of whom 415 were females and 18
political parties contested initially in the 457
wards of the 462 wards in the councils due to
deaths, and logistical reasons
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17. 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTORAL PROCESS
cont’d
• The initial physical inspection of the voters’ roll
was suspended following irregularities
• Problem with software to read the marks on the
form and re-construct text and numeric data.
• The inspection was rescheduled later and done in
3 phases
• Official campaign commenced on 21 March 2014
and ends at 0600 hours on 18 May 2014
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18. 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTORAL PROCESS
cont’d
• The campaign was generally peaceful
• The Commission determined that the size of a
polling stream to be 800 voters and were spread
throughout the 4445 polling stations
• Ballot papers were printed in South Africa and
political parties through CMD observed the
process including the arrival and distribution in
the country
• Most of the materials and staff were transported
using road transport
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19. 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTORAL PROCESS
cont’d
• Delivery of non sensitive materials to councils started
on 5 May 2014 and ballot papers were distributed to
councils on 16 May 2014 from Lilongwe International
Airport
• Polling took place on 20th May 2014 in most centres
except for 45 due to logistical reasons
• Counting starting with LGE was done per stream and
then aggregated for the polling station
• In most polling stations, signed results sheets were
given to monitors and another pasted
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20. 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTORAL PROCESS
cont’d
• Presiding Officers took polling station results
sheets to the Constituency Returning Officer
(CRO)at the collation centre for ward and
constituency located at the district headquarters
• At the collation centre, signed copies of the collated
result were distributed to those present and another
pasted at the centre
• The CROs were to first transmit collated constituency
and ward results to the National Tally Centre (NTC)
electronically then deliver to the District Elections
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21. 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTORAL PROCESS
cont’d
• At the National Tally Centre once the result was
verified, it was be presented to contesting parties
to review it so that they can compare with what
their monitors have and raise any genuine
discrepancies if they existed
• Presidential results were announced on 30th May
2014
• Parliamentary and Local Government Elections
were announced on 2nd June 2014
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22. 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTORAL PROCESS
cont’d
• There was a triangulation of the media landscape
• Public broadcaster was called upon to open up to
the opposition and there were positive results
• The Commission relaxed all rules to enable more
eligible people observe the elections and an
electronic information pack which includes list of
centres and voter population, maps, codes of
conduct, electoral procedure manuals, etc is being
finalized.
• Observer groups included MESN, EU, AU, SADC,
COMESA and many MESN local POST ELECTION REVIEW
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missions

23. 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTORAL PROCESS
cont’d
• Accredited 107 civic and voter education
providers for the 2014 tripartite elections who
were spread throughout the country
• A number of strategies were employed: radio
and tv jingles, programs, public meetings with
chiefs, posters, leaflets, letters, drama, road
shows, door to door campaigns, loud hailers, etc
• Engendered all elections documents ( Strategic
Plan, CVE Strategy, Manuals, Media and Political
Parties Codes of Conduct
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24. 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTORAL PROCESS
cont’d
• Established a complaints unit with funding from
the UNDP managed basket fund - 3 local lawyers
but headed by an international lawyer for
prompt legal advice and opinion to the
Commission on all matters that requires such a
service
• The Unit handled 360 complaints on various
categories like campaign related, counting,
arithmetical reconciliations, candidate bribing,
interrupted polling, etc which were attended to
• There are 18 petitions MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW
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in courts

25. 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTORAL PROCESS
cont’d
• Oriented the Judiciary on the electoral laws
and as an avenue of ensuring speedy
disposition of electoral matters
• Provided security from Police or Malawi
Defence Force in all election facilities
Training of registration, verification and polling
staff followed a cascade approach – 3 tier
• Voters’ roll made available to political parties
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26. CHALLENGES
• Budget discussions took long and delayed the
release of the calendar
• Funding arrangements, procurement procedures
• Demarcation of constituencies not carried out
since 1999 creating unequal representations
• Decision on change of registration system did not
succeed
• Transparency initiatives by the Commission not
fully appreciated by some stakeholders
• Lack of financial independence
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27. Challenges cont’d
• Perceptions of bias and partisanship (rigging) by
all contesting political parties
• Poor quality registration data needed continuous
cleaning at the expense of other activities
• Frequent equipment breakdown during
registration
• Voter Registration Certificate – use, recording,
copying of serial numbers, buying, etc
• Registration figures versus NSO projections
• Negligence and casual MESN POST ELECTION approach REVIEW
to time-lines 27
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28. Challenges cont’d
• Inspection held very close to polling day and not
enough time to print final voters’ roll
• Energies expended on trivial issues/ false alarms
• Nomination court battles – public servant status
• Lack of legal provisions on running mates in the
case of death or withdrawal
• Incumbency issues and development rallies
• Low numbers of women participating in positions
• Relationship with Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission
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29. Challenges cont’d
• CSOs got funding late thereby exerting
unnecessary pressure on the Commission to
reach out to the masses
• Chaotic distribution of polling materials in some
districts like Blantyre, Zomba and Thyolo districts
• Inadequate transport
• Voting for assisted voters
• Poor performance by Presiding Officers
• Attempts to vary Commission decision by the
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30. RECOMMENDATIONS
• Financiers should realize that elections are a
cycle
• Adequate resourcing of the Commission
• Legal reform to address gaps in registration,
nomination (death/resignation of running mate),
voting by voters requiring assistance, quotas,
incumbency, etc
• Introduce new registration system (BVR)
• Strategic plan to be adhered to and supported
• Maintain consultaMtEiSvN PeOS Ta ELpECTpIONr RoEVaIEWc h
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31. RECOMMENDATIONS Cont’d
• Liaise with Government to improve capacity in
key departments
• Need for financial independence
• Employment of temporary staff from the open
market with clear contracts
• Need to improve information use and flow
among (both vertical and horizontal)
• Continue regular provision of information and
open door policy
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32. RECOMMENDATIONS Cont’d
• Improve complaints handling mechanisms
• Multi-Party Liaison Committees should be
sustained
• Need to publicise agreed upon new initiatives
at least a month before rolling out
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33. CONCLUSION
• The 2014 tripartite electoral process was
conducted substantially as planned
• There was constant key stakeholder
consultation throughout the process
• There were challenges on the way and
solutions were being identified in the process
• There are areas that need improvement for a
much better future electoral process
• All in all the elections were credible
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