Preliminary registered voters for sixth phase

The Malawi Electoral Commission is informing the public it has registered 1,113,829 voters in the sixth phase of voter registration. This total represents 100.25 percent of the projected number for the phase which was 1,111,070 registrants.

The actual registered voters total is also 23.52 per

cent above the registration figure for 2010 which is 901,753. This is the highest average ever attained since registration started on July 22, 2013.

Phase six of voter registration took place in Lilongwe City, Chitipa and Dowa districts, Mchinji South and Southwest constituencies and Dedza West, Central, Central East, Southwest and Northwest constituencies.

The summary of the registration figures for phase six according to councils is as follows:

Council	registered voters 2013	registered voters 2010	% voter registration to 2010 registration	Projected registrants for 2013	% voter registration to 2013 projection
Chitipa	105,501	97,028	108.73 %	119,550	88%
Dowa	326,139	278,124	117.26%	342,683	95.17%
Mchinji South, South-west	85,519	73,558	116.25%	90,632	94.36%
Lilongwe City	416,577	301,738	138.06%	371,778	112.05%
Dedza Central, Southwest, Northwest, West, Central East	180,093	151,305	119.03%	186,426	96.60%

Of the total registered voters in the sixth phase 542,265 are men representing 48.68 percent while 571,564 are women representing 51.32 percent. The total of registered voters for all the six phases is 4,873,431 registrants. The details of total voters according to phases are as follows:

	2013 registered voters	2010 registered voters	% voter registration to 2010 registration	Projected registrants for 2013	% voter registration to 2013 projection
Phase 1	595, 602	515,889	115.45%	635,639	93.7%
Phase 2	711,192	621,511	114%	767,730	93%
Phase 3	679,706	587,703	115.65%	724,122	93.87%
Phase 4	891,302	796,005	111.97%	980,776	90.88%
Phase 5	881,800	756,372	116.58%	931,943	94.62%
Phase 6	1,113,829	901,753	124%	1,111,070	100.25%
Total registered	4,873,431	4,179,233	116.61%	5,151,280	95%
Overall percentage increase			116.61%		95%

Some centres in Chitipa and Dowa failed to open for a whole day or two and they were given an automatic extension at the end of the phase equivalent to the period they were non-operational. This was done to fulfill the law which demands that a centre should be open for 14 days.

Detailed registration figures for each centre, ward and constituency have been uploaded on MEC website www.mec.org.mw and at http://www.scribd.com/doc/181233857/Phase-6-voter-registration-statistics-pdf.

The Commission is urging stakeholders to exercise caution with the statistics because they are based on preliminary information captured during field operations and might change during computerization exercises.

Meanwhile the seventh phase of voter registration is in progress in Lilongwe, Likoma and Nkhata Bay district councils and Mzimba South-East constituency and Mchinji North, East, West and Northeast constituencies.

Signed this 6th day of November, 2013

Willie Kalonga

Chief Elections Officer