elections this year as exhibited by Aticken Nyirongo, the Presiding
Officer at Chisu polling station, was meant to record a lot more of
information than complaints under s.89 including a record of the entire
process at the polling station as required under s. 93(1)(a).”
64. Indeed, it would appear that 2nd Respondent decided to fuse the provision of record sheets for the
record under section 93 of the PPEA and the log book for recording formal complaints under
section 89 of the PPEA under one document. This is evident from the titling of the book which
was popularly referred to in these proceedings as the record logbook. On the front of this booklet,
the heading that appears is: “Presiding/Assistant Presiding Officer log book 2019 Tripartite
Elections: MEC POLL 050.” Inside the document, the following description of the booklet
appears: “Malawi Electoral Commission: Official Summary and Record of Results.” These two
descriptions clearly show that the 2nd Respondent, in its wisdom, decided to depart from the
statutory prescriptions and organize them in this fused fashion.
65. Form VII describes the process of how additional ballots received in the course of the polling
process were supposed to be handled. The Form is titled “Ballot Papers Audit Trail”. It is meant
to ensure accountability where a polling station receives ballot papers on transfer from some other
place. The form should show the name of the person handing over the ballot papers and the name
of the person receiving the same. It also provides for the specific identification of the ballot papers
received which must be numbered appropriately. The total number of such additional ballots
brought on transfer must be indicated. These processes were meant for specific reasons. Without
such an accurate record, which must be open for examination by political party or candidate
representatives, and ultimately used by the Commission when determining the national results, it
would not be possible to identify the source of additional ballot papers which is such a big security
breach in any properly managed election.
66. Form VII is in the following terms:
FORM VII
BALLOT PAPERS AUDIT TRAIL
(required for purposes of section 5 and Part VII)
RECEIPT ON TRANSFER OF BALLOT PAPERS
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