VZCZCXRO1776
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLG #0701/01 3441020
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091020Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY LILONGWE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0177
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0287
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LILONGWE 000701 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM MI
SUBJECT: MALAWI: ELECTION PREPARATION UPDATE 
 
REF: LILONGWE 667 AND PREVIOUS 
 
LILONGWE 00000701  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: With just over five months until Malawi's 
May elections, the registration period is limping toward the 
finish line with delays, material shortages and poor 
expenditure tracking, but with what appears to be a 
high-quality voter roll.  Voter registration will now likely 
conclude in late December or early January, with the initial 
voters roll ready for inspection in February and final roll 
printed by the end of March.  The MEC has announced a robust 
results management system plan, including a national tally 
center open to the media that will release local results as 
they come in.  MEC Chairperson Justice Anastasia Msosa has 
also expressed support for a civil society-led parallel vote 
tally to help ensure confidence in the MEC's process.  USG 
funding for NDI's support to local observers and a parallel 
vote tally would be a modest ($500,000) but high-yield 
investment.  While the MEC has extended invitations to 
international observers, none have yet confirmed their 
participation.  MEC's delayed financial system installation 
has limited activity-level expenditure tracking, leading to 
concerns that there may be overspending on early activities 
that will create a funding shortfall as the polling date 
approaches. End Summary. 
 
Materials and Equipment Problems 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Malawi Electoral Commission continues to make 
progress towards May 19 general elections.  Registration of 
voters has continued past the original November 30 completion 
date.  The MEC confirmed it will need a seventh, two-week 
phase to register the final five districts.  Voter 
registration will now likely conclude in late December or 
early January.  However, the MEC continues to maintain it 
will have the initial voters roll ready for inspection in 
February and will print the final voters roll by the end of 
March. 
 
¶3. (SBU) While resolved in the field, equipment issues remain 
a problem at the MEC headquarters.  The breakdown of two 
document scanners delayed the start of registration form 
scanning.  The MEC has compensate by going to 7x24 operations 
in its information technology department.  The long hours and 
high stress have caused morale problems that could lead to 
staff attrition during this high workload timeframe.  The 
high-tech system has yielded results, however, catching 35 
duplicate registrants out of the 1.4 million registrants that 
have been processed.  Many believe the fingerprint-matching 
technology will lead to the best voters roll in Malawi's 
electoral history. 
 
Results Management Plan 
----------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The MEC recently announced an ambitious plan to 
manage release of the results of the polls. Polling stations 
will have one presiding officer responsible for the entire 
station's results tabulation.  Ballots will be counted in 
front of monitors, tally sheets signed, and a copy posted 
outside the polling station.  The original result sheet will 
be transported by vehicle to one of 29 district seats where 
constituency return officers will enter the details in a 
computer.  The officers will also scan the original signed 
results sheet.  Both will be electronically transmitted to a 
national tally center in Blantyre.  Monitors and MEC 
information technology staff will observe this data entry and 
transmission step.  By placing the 193 constituency officers 
at just 29 district seats, the MEC hopes to avoid 
communication outages and be able to respond more quickly to 
technical problems. 
 
¶5. (SBU) At the national tally center, the MEC plans to 
display voting results as they come in on a big screen 
monitor with live updates.  Media, political parties, and 
other observers will be allowed to watch each polling 
center's results as the MEC certifies them as official.  The 
MEC said they expect all results to be officially announced 
within 24 hours after the polls close.  The MEC also said 
they will attempt to post real-time results online. 
 
¶6. (SBU) At a presentation by the U.S.-based National 
Democratic Institute (NDI) hosted by the DCM recently on the 
fringes of an Electoral Institute of Southern Africa 
conference, MEC Chairperson Justice Anastasia Msosa also 
expressed support for a civil-society-led parallel vote tally 
(PVT) to help ensure confidence in the MEC's results 
management process.  Major donors including the UK and Canada 
are currently considering whether to fund a PVT as well as 
 
LILONGWE 00000701  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
longer-term election observation by a local civil society 
umbrella group.   (COMMENT:  The USG still has provided NO 
FUNDING to this critical effort.  END COMMENT)  The MEC has 
also invited international observers, but no group has yet 
come forward. 
 
Working with Media and Civil Society 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU)  To combat the perceived bias of broadcasters, the 
MEC opened its media monitoring unit (MMU) in early December. 
 The MMU will monitor both print and broadcast media and 
report on the accuracy and fairness of election coverage 
leading up to the polls.  The MEC will also use the MMU to 
engage journalists on professional methods for covering 
elections.  Grants to civil society organizations to perform 
civic and voter education, to which USAID has contributed a 
total of $802,000, will also be disbursed in mid-December. 
Delays in disbursement will force most organizations to 
modify their education proposals for the campaign period 
only, since voter registration is almost over. 
 
Budget Shortfalls a Concern 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The MEC's spending is a concern to international 
donors who are contributing 44% of the election's budget. 
Neither expenditures on additional registration equipment and 
supplies, nor the costs of the repeated registration 
extensions, were in the original budget.  Additionally, the 
MEC's financial system installation has been delayed, leading 
to the use of simple spreadsheets to track expenditures. 
Donors remain concerned that overspending on early election 
activities will create funding shortfalls closer to the 
polling date. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment: The MEC continues to do its best to keep 
the electoral process transparent and fair.  Most of the 
current problems stem from human resource and capacity issues 
brought about by neglect in the period between 2004 and 2008. 
 The MEC remains heavily dependent on expensive international 
consultants in many key areas and will likely have to extend 
the contracts of some due to the prolonged registration 
period.  Moreover, the inability to accurately track 
activity-level spending has made it difficult to project what 
additional resources the MEC will need.  While donors will 
press the MEC to turn to the GOM for budget overruns, some 
may find it difficult to refuse additional funding requests 
to safeguard their already large investments.  Some donors 
would like to devote any additional funds to non-government 
election support projects such as the civil-society parallel 
vote tally, but without assurances that the GOM will step up 
to fund MEC's unidentified budget gaps, funding may come too 
late to implement these efforts.  USG funding for NDI's 
support to local observers and a parallel vote tally would be 
a modest ($500,000) but high-yield investment.  End Comment. 
SULLIVAN