The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has said the winner in parliamentary and local government elections will be the candidate who gets 50% plus 1 vote of the votes cast.
MEC chairperson Dr. Chifundo Kachale has said this in a statement today.
He said the Commission has considered the provisions of section 96 (5) of the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act and section 80 (5) of the Local Government Elections Act and the interpretation of the word “majority” by both the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court of Appeal in the presidential elections case.
“[MEC] would like to inform all candidates, political parties and relevant electoral stakeholders that the threshold for determination of a winner for both the parliamentary and local government elections will be set at 50% plus 1 vote of the votes cast.
“Any candidate or political party aggrieved by these decisions may appeal to the High Court of Malawi,” said Kachale.
Meanwhile, the commission has postponed elections in Mangochi West Constituency; Mangochi North East Constituency and Phalombe North Constituency.
This follows a High Court ruling in Martin Chikati Sekati Nyengo & Simeon Harrison v Electoral Commission.
The ruling said only the candidates who participated in the 2019 parliamentary elections will be considered eligible to contest in the by-elections and their status and party affiliations will be maintained.
The voters’ register in the election will also be reset to the state it was on 21st May 2019.
“In view of the foregoing, the elections in Mangochi West Constituency; Mangochi North East Constituency; and Phalombe North Constituency have been deferred to allow time for implementation of the above processes. New dates for receipt of nominations and the three by-elections will be set and announced in due course,” said Kachale.
By-elections are expected to be held as planned in Lilongwe North West Constituency, Karonga Central Constituency and Makhuwira South Ward in Chikwawa.
