Mesn national review conference.june2014

THE CASE OF 2014 TRIPARTITE ELECTIONS

INSTITTUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF

ELECTIONS IN MALAWI

1MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW CONFERENCE

OUTLINE OF THE PRESENTATION

• Overview of the Malawi Electoral Commission – Legal framework – Institutional arrangement

• 2014 Tripartite Electoral process• Challenges• Recommendations• Conclusion


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


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


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 5MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW CONFERENCE

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


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.


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;

MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW

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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


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, )


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 and polling


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


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 13MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW

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• 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



• 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 15MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW

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• 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



• 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



• 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



• 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



• 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 Coordinator (DEC) 20MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW

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• 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

21MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW

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• 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 local missions 22MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW

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• 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



• 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 in courts24MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW

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• 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


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


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 approach to time-lines 27MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW

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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

Commission28MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW

CONFERENCE

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

Executive 29MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW CONFERENCE

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 consultative approach

MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW CONFERENCE 30

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 policyMESN POST ELECTION REVIEW

CONFERENCE 31

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

MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW CONFERENCE 32

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 MESN POST ELECTION REVIEW

CONFERENCE 33

Government & Nonprofit

Mesn national review conference.june2014