HRDC wants MEC national tally centre moved to Lilongwe

Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has called on the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to move the national tally centre from Blantyre to Lilongwe to ease logistical challenges.

The coalition’s chairperson Gift Trapence said Lilongwe is centrally located, saying this makes it easier for election results from the north to reach the national tally centre on time.

“It will be easier to bring election results from the north say from Chitipa as well as from the south. This is not a political issue but rather a logistical issue,” said Trapence.

MEC spokesperson Sangwani Mwafulirwa asked for more time before commenting on the proposal but other analysts say the national tally centre is in Blantyre because that is where MEC headquarters offices are and it would be costly to move away from the MEC base.

The electoral body announced this week that it has shifted the tally centre from Comesa to College of Medicine, both places are in Blantyre.