Malawi final voters’ roll inspection exercise commences Thursday
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) says the third and final phase of voter verification exercise will start from Thursday, 1st May until Monday, 5th May.
The commission says in a statement made available to Nyasa Times that the final phase will cover the remaining councils in the central region which are Ntcheu, Dedza, Lilongwe City, Lilongwe District, Mchinji, Dowa, Ntchisi, Kasungu Municipality and Kasungu district.
The centres will be opening from 8a.m to 4p.m including lunch hour and weekends.
“The Commission, in conjunction with the Malawi Election Information Centre (MEIC), has also introduced a free SMS facility which gives an opportunity to all registered voters to verify their details by sending their voter certificate number to 58683. This service is available for districts covered in phase 1 and 2. Voters in phase 3 districts will access it when the verification exercise commences,” reads the statement in part.
It says if the registered voter wants to receive the message in Chewa they should type CHE123456789 (where 123456789 is the certificate number) and send to 58683. To receive a message in Tumbuka, they should type TUM123456789 (where 123456789 is the certificate number) and send to 58683.
“Registered voters can also verify details on the web by visiting www.mec.org.mw. If there are errors in the registration information or the system responds that the details are not available, voters, who are in councils covered under phase three are encouraged to visit the centre they registered so that they get assisted”.
The Commission says if they are in councils where verification was already done, they should send an email to [email protected] or call the MEC call centre on these numbers: 0111 743 327;0111 744 374; 0111 742 874; 0111 744 073 ; 0111 746 619 ; 0111 745 273 ; 0111 744 365 or 0111 743 263 and they should give their full names, certificate number, centre where they registered, their phone contacts and the error in their registration details.
“During the verification period, registered voters who lost their certificates should also go to the centres where they registered to get duplicate certificates which will enable them vote easily on May 20, 2014. 3 The Commission is also urging the public to report deaths of their relatives so that they should be removed from the voters’ register. They should bring the voter certificate of the deceased and a death certificate, a letter from a traditional leader or religious leader as evidence,” says the statement
The Commission says will also process transfers for people who have moved away from the centres where they registered and they will be unable to go that centre on the polling day.
“These voters should go with their voter certificate to the centre where they wish to vote and ask to be transferred. Without a voter certificate, a transfer will not be processed.”
