Malawi’s parliament on Tuesday passed an amendment to the country’s electoral law, allowing thousands of deployed workers to vote away from their registered constituencies in the upcoming 16 September general elections.
The Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Amendment Bill (No. 23 of 2025) was approved during an emergency sitting of the National Assembly in Lilongwe.
The move followed mounting concerns that thousands of essential workers – including polling staff, security personnel, journalists and party agents – would be disenfranchised due to deployment on election day.
Under the previous legal framework, Section 74 of the Elections Act restricted voting to the centre where a voter was originally registered.
The new amendment empowers the Malawi Electoral Commission to authorise voting at deployment stations, provided voter verification is completed.
“”The amendment of the bill will assist citizens to vote elsewhere after being deployed by their respective workplaces on the polling day,” Leader of the House Richard Banda said.
Parliament reconvened for a special session on Tuesday at the directive of President Lazarus Chakwera after its earlier dissolution on 23 July.
JN/APA