Voting-counting in Malawi’s tripartite elections held on Tuesday is underway nationwide, a senior Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) official has told the press in Blantyre.
MEC Chief Elections Officer Sam Alufandika said the polling stations shut down at 1600 GMT after 12 hours of voting and the counting began immediately, with the results expected to be announced within eight days in accordance with the law.
Currently, the MEC officials at polling stations are surrounded by party representatives and civil society witnesses counting the ballots on the spot for the sake of transparency before recording each station’s results for onward transmission to district tally centres.
Tuesday’s polls pitched President Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party against his rebelious Vice President Saulos Chilima of the United Transformation Movement, Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party and United Democratic Front’s Atupele Muluzi.
The polls were well-attended, with voter enthusiasm as Malawians flocked to both urban and rural centres to cast their votes for the presidential hopefuls – the most highly contested category of the tripartite polls – and left international observers from Africa and overseas impressed with the peaceful conduct of the exercise.
NM/as/APA