MEC fires poll official over marked ballot papers: Monitor arrested for attempting to vote twice

Malawi Electoral Commission has fired a poll centre official for pre-marking presidential ballot papers in the northern district of Mzimba.

District Commissioner for Mzimba,Thomas Chirwa and presiding officer at the centre Chimwemwe Mizwa, both confirmed that the incident took place at Davie primary school.

Sources at the polling centre said it all started when a voter discovered that his presidential ballot paper had already been marked.

“Then he alerted other officials at the centre who then made a review of other ballot papers which the official, a teacher Jollen Nyirenda and found that he had already marked other two ballot papers in a way to look that they were null and void,” said one of the officials.

Then a decision was made to fire him instantly.

“I can confirm the issue and we have resolved to mark the said papers as ‘spoiled’ as per the guidance from Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC),” Chirwa said.

Other problems included the elderly who just voted for councilors and left without voting for members of parliament and presidents.

Elsewher, in Nkhotakota,  a 31-year-old man Assan Kazeze who was a local monitor for an independent candidate for Nkhotakota North East Constituency, Francis Kapanda has been arrested for trying to vote more than once.

Police Public Relations Officer for Nkhunga Police station Ignatius Essau confirmed the development, saying Kazeze was apprehended at Majiga primary school polling centre.

He said the said suspect casted his vote on the Centre in the morning and then wanted to vote again on the same Centre which had two streams but was discovered by other officials who alerted law enforcers who then arrested him.

Assan Kazeze who comes from from Mpondagaga in Traditional Authority Mphonde’s area in Nkhotakota district will answer charges of Voting more than once which is contrary toSection 115 (C) under the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections Act.

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