Abstract

General elections world over including Malawi, have been faced with many challenges that made the outcome of the elections to be deemed as not true reflection of the wishes of the populace. Electoral commissions, including the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) have adopted several systems to harness the electoral credibility and this includes adoption of ICT-based electoral management system (EMS). This study examined the impact of the ICT-based election management system on the credibility of the election with emphasis on 2019 Tripartite Elections. This cross-sectional prospective qualitative study collected data from key informants of an electoral process in Malawi, who included various election stakeholders’ such as electoral commission members of staff, Commissioners, party representatives and representatives of the non-governmental organizations and academicians. Results showed that ICT-based system performed well in some parts of the electoral processes and failed in some parts. For example, the ICT-based system performed well in the registration and verification of voters, nomination of candidates, results tabulation and transmission as well as information results dissemination. However, the ICT-based system did not perform well in the areas of results transmission as well as stakeholders’ confidence and transparency. Some of these issues were attributed to incomprehensive consultations as well as continued use of paper-based system in the electoral process as the paper-based system worked synergistically with the ICT-system. Therefore, it is recommended that the electoral commission should improve on consultations with regards to ICT-based system as well as adopting the ICT based system in all the other parts of the electoral processes that are still using the paper-based system to ensure a free, fair, transparent and cost-effective elections.

More details

School	: School of Law, Economics and Government
Issued Date	: 2021

Download full document