(MEC) has reported a 98 percent success rate in defending post-election pet i t i o ns cha l l eng i ng September 16 2025 General Election parliamentary results.

MEC chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja, speaking during the opening of the 2025 General Election Review for the commission’s staff in Lilongwe yesterday, attributed the success to strict adherence to electoral laws. MEC simultaneously held similar meetings in the Northern and Southern regions.

Mtalimanja: Issues
involved handouts.
| Andrew Viano

She said most of the concluded cases were based on allegations of handouts and electoral violence rather than the conduct of the elections themselves.

“Of the cases that were filed in court, the commission was successful in 98 percent of them. In most cases, the issues involved handouts and electoral violence, not so much our own electoral processes that we put in place,” said Mtalimanja, who is a judge of the High Court of Malawi.

She said the commission operated strictly within the legal framework despite pressure from some stakeholders to depart from provisions governing voter registration and other electoral processes.

Said Mtalimanja: “As you may recall, there were a few cases commenced in court challenging the commission on voter registration and demanding that we depart from the text of the law.

“However, the commission resolved that it would work within the legal framework and the court outcomes only fortified the commission’s resolve.”

She said the review exercise would help identify lessons from the 2025 elections and areas requiring legal reform ahead of the 2030 polls.

The exercise forms part of preparations for MEC’s next operational plan, which is expected to be launched in 2027 as the commission begins planning for the next electoral cycle.

Mtalimanja’s remarks come against the background of Judiciary data showing that, by November 2025, at least 50 electoral cases were filed following the general election.

In a separate interview, MEC director of legal services David Matumika Banda said only four cases involving the commission are still in court.

“One case is before the High Court in Zomba, two are before the High Court in Lilongwe and one is before the Supreme Court sitting in Mzuzu,” he said.

Duri ng t h e rev i ew, Nkhotakota district elections officer Nickson Chimangeni said the review provided electoral officials with an opportunity to assess the successes and shortcomings of the 2025 elections.

The September 16 General Election disputes resulted in the nullification of parliamentary election results in constituencies such as Lilongwe City Bwaila and Balaka Mulunguzi where by-elections are scheduled for June 30 this year.

The High Court of Malawi also nullified results for Nsanje South Constituency, a decision later upheld by the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal. A date for the by-election is yet to be announced.

The post-election litigation follows a trend seen after the 2019 elections, when courts nullified results in several parliamentary constituencies and ordered fresh polls.

The 2019 presidential election was also annulled by a five-judge panel of the High Court sitting as a Constitutional Court over irregularities, a decision subsequently upheld by the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal.

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