The Malawi president has called for an immediate manual audit of this week’s election results, alleging serious irregularities after the electoral commission reported its vote-tallying system had collapsed. “It has come to my attention that there (are) some serious irregularities in the counting and announcement of results in some parts of the country,” Joyce Banda said. She said unofficial partial results revealed vote tallies that exceeded the total number of registered voters in some constituencies. Discarded and tampered ballots had also been discovered, said Banda, who faces her first electoral test since she succeeded Bingu wa Mutharika after his death two years ago.
Banda also alleged that the communication devices of some polling monitors had been jammed deliberately, “thereby limiting the monitors’ ability to effectively carry out their duties”. “In light of these concerns – and concerns emerging from other stakeholders, which includes other political parties – I call upon the Malawi electoral commission to carry out an immediate manual audit of the whole process,” she said.
Election officials announced previously that the electronic vote-tallying system had broken, forcing them to resort to fax and email, and delaying the release of results.
Full Article: Malawi elections: Joyce Banda demands recount amid rigging fears | Global development | theguardian.com.
