Page 108 - Conducting Elections during COVID-19

90 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES OF CONDUCTING ELECTIONS DURING COVID-19

Malawi

Elections in Malawi: 2020 Presidential Elections

Presidential elections were held in Malawi on 23 June 2020. The election had originally been scheduled
for 19 May and 2 July. The election followed the annulment of the results of the 2019 presidential
elections in February 2020 by the Constitutional Court. The Court also ordered fresh elections be held
within 150 days.

Parliament passed the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act (PPEA) Amendment Bill on 24
February, setting 19 May as the date for the new presidential elections and extending the terms of
MPs and local Councillors by one year to help harmonisation of presidential, parliamentary and local
elections in 2025. In March, the Malawi Electoral Commission announced a new election date, 2 July,
one day before the 150 day limit to hold elections set by the Constitutional Court. On 21 May, the Legal
Affairs committee of parliament endorsed fresh presidential elections to be held on 23 June instead
of 2 July.
Malawi held a presidential election rerun on 23 June, 2020. As such only voters and candidates who
were registered during the May 2019 elections were eligible to participate in the June 2020 election.
This election was conducted against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic challenge. Even though
Malawi did not register as many cases of COVID-19 as other parts of the world, there were still fears that
the situation could become more problematic. On 29 April, Malawi’s former president proposed new
measures against COVID-19 after 36 people were infected and 3 had died. These measures included
cash payments to help the poor survive under lockdown, mandatory social distancing and prohibition
of mass gatherings.

Challenges Posed by COVID-19: Logistics

The challenges included logistics, supply and procurement of materials for the election process,
safety precautions and international observation. The COVID-19 prevention measures outlined by the
government of Malawi did not allow gatherings of more than 100 people. Despite this mandate, some
political parties held large campaign gatherings that exceeded this number. Malawi imports election
materials from other countries and imports became a challenge because of COVID-19 related lockdown
restrictions in supplier countries. Transportation of supplies also became difficult both for imported
goods as well as domestic goods related to elections. This hampered the election preparations as MEC
heavily depends on import of goods for running of the election process. MEC then announced that the
printing of ballot papers was being done in Dubai with a target of supply by 19 June. Furthermore, some
international observers would not be able to reach the destination to carry out the observation work at
the elections due to flight cancellations and health measures stemming from COVID-19.

Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Initiative on COVID-19
Safe Elections

With the fresh presidential election expected to happen on June 23, 2020, there was speculation that
the infection may spiral by the time campaign began and the Election Day arrived, especially if no
safety measures were established. In this backdrop, the MEC evolved a set of safety measures to
mitigate the challenge of COVID-19 and applied them before, during and after polling.