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| National |
| NGOs unhappy with poll date |
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by
Gedion Munthali, 17 December 2004
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11:17:58
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Some civil society organisations want the elections date in the constitution to be changed from May 18 to between end August or early September to address problems of low voter turnouts, accessibility of would-be voters and suspicions about electoral fraud.
Centre for Legal Assistance (Cela), concerned by low voter turn out during general elections as demonstrated in the 1999 and 2004 general elections, is calling upon all Malawians to push for a change of elections date during the forthcoming constitutional review.
“Research by Cela has shown that low voter turn out is partly due to the period when elections are held in Malawi,” said Cela chair Desmond Kaunda.
Cela noted that during the sanctioned elections calendar most parts of the rural areas are not accessible as the roads are “very bad and some bridges washed away due to rains”.
“This makes it difficult for candidates to campaign,” he said.
Kaunda also said the during the period many people are “still busy in the gardens”.
”This makes it difficult for them to register in time for the elections and/or attend campaign rallies,” he said.
The Cela chair said most parts of the country still experience rains during the month of May, consequently “some voters stay away from polls due to these rains”.
“Delivery and collecting of ballot boxes is made difficult due to the rains,” he said. “This brings unnecessary expenses of hiring helicopters and also suspicions whenever there is delay on delivery of election materials.”
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