Chairperson for Malawi Electroral Commission (MEC), Justice Annabel Mtalimanja, has urged Malawians who have moved from areas where they registered to go and proccess a voter transfer at a nearest centre in the constituency or ward they have move to for them to vote on September 16, 2025.
Speaking during a press briefing at Bingu international Convention Centre in Lilongwe on Friday, Mtalimanja said the law allows a voter to transfer his or her registration to another centre, according to section eight of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act.
“The commission is announcing to the nation that it will be processing transfer of voters to other registration centres in the place and or area where the voters have moved to or anticipate moving to by virtue of residence, employment or business. This will help people to vote easily on 16th September 2025,” she said.
Mtalimanja also clarified that the voter transfer exercise will be conducted in three phases, with the first one set to take place from February 25 to 27 in Chitipa, Karonga, Mzuzu, Nkhotakota, Ntchisi, Salima, Dedza, Machinga, Chiradzulu, Neno, Phalombe, Balaka, and Mulanje.
She added that the second phase will be conducted from March 5 to 7 in Nkhata Bay, Zomba, Blantyre, Thyolo, Luchenza, Rumphi, Likoma, Kasungu, Dowa, Mchinji, and Ntcheu.
According to the MEC chairperson, the last phase will take place from March 13 to 15 in Mzimba, Lilongwe, Mangochi, Mwanza, Chikwawa, and Nsanje.
“The centres will be open from 8am to 4pm and they will also remain open during lunch time and also on weekends. As per procedure, the EMDs [Election Management Devices] will stop functioning at 4pm on the last day of the exercise,” she said.
Mtalimanja further emphasised that to process a voter transfer, the voter has to present himself or herself at the centre the voter wants to transfer to, adding that the voter does not need to go to the original registration centre to do this transfer process.
