Next week’s election will be a test for democracy after the 2019 annulment triggered a raft of electoral reforms.

Malawi returns to the polls on 16 September – the first election since Lazarus Chakwera, then opposition leader of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), became president in 2020 after the 2019 results were nullified due to irregularities.

The ruling restored the political system’s credibility, underscoring Malawi as a rare case in which courts and electoral institutions asserted independence from the executive. The court decision also kick-started several electoral reforms.

In 2020, the 50%+1 vote requirement was enacted, enhancing the popular mandate and eliminating chances of minority victories in future elections. Similar reforms occurred in Zambia (2016) and Kenya (2010).

Further electoral reforms followed in 2022 and 2023 as lawmakers sought to refine the composition of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) and codify procedures for run-off elections embodied in the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act.

The latest reform came in August 2025, weeks before the upcoming poll. Parliament rushed through an amendment allowing election, security and party personnel to vote where they are deployed rather than in their home constituencies. This enfranchised approximately 80 000 officials but drew criticism from opposition parties and civil society for excluding journalists and independent observers. The timing of the amendment also fuelled suspicion of political expediency.

Boniface Chibwana, MEC National Coordinator for Electoral Reforms, said both legal and administrative changes were the result of lessons painfully learnt in 2019.

In addition to adjusting polling hours to avoid night-time voting, the most important reform was that the judiciary was formally incorporated into election management by establishing the Judiciary Committee on Elections.

This reform addresses situations where the court might not be in sync with the MEC, like during the 2014 election, when a 30-day extension request for a recount was shut down by the court. The decision cited the legal eight-day announcement deadline from voting day, leaving many disputes unresolved.

‘After [the 2019 election] nullification, reforms became urgent. These changes are meant to reduce manipulation and restore trust,’ Chibwana said.

Still, concerns remain over whether Malawi has done enough to consolidate its democratic gains. In 2024, incidents of political violence saw armed masked men violently disrupt anti-government demonstrations. In February that year, an armed group attacked an opposition voter registration parade, injuring 20 Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters.

Chibwana said the MEC had tried to guard against conflict by meeting all election stakeholders through the National Elections Consultative Forum. He noted that ahead of elections, ‘we explain transparently how rules will be applied. Nomination processes were publicly witnessed to avoid claims of unfairness.’ Yet the risk of disputes escalating remains high, especially in a polarised contest.

This election is largely a three-horse race featuring two former presidents: the DPP’s Peter Mutharika (2014-2020), Joyce Banda of the People’s Party (2012-2014), and incumbent Chakwera (MCP). All three seek a second term.

The poll could have had a different trajectory had vice-president Saulos Chilima not died in a plane crash last year. Following cracks in the Tonse Alliance, which he formed with Chakwera, the intention was to switch the 2025 candidacy to Chilima. Foul play was ruled out, and Chilima’s United Transformation Movement has struggled to regroup since his death.

In the absence of a youthful frontrunner and the dominance of familiar faces, there has been an increase in independent parliamentary candidates. A record 260 independent candidates are contesting 229 seats, outnumbering established parties. Chibwana sees this as evidence of political diversification – but acknowledges that women and people with disabilities are underrepresented.

For ordinary Malawians, the most pressing issues lie outside the electoral framework. Afrobarometer’s 2024 survey says 58% of citizens identify food shortages or famine as the country’s top problem, followed by the rising cost of living and agriculture (both 28%) and health (26%).

In rural and peri-urban areas, six in 10 residents prioritise food security. Urban areas are more likely to cite inflation and economic management. These findings underscore the gap between electoral reforms and citizens’ priorities around survival and livelihoods.

Most Malawians (76%) feel the country is going in the ‘wrong direction’, yet 63% say they trust the courts ‘somewhat’ to ‘a lot’, reflecting both scepticism and confidence in institutional mechanisms.

That gap is also evident in the information and civic education spaces. Chibwana says false rumours about Smartmatic registration devices fabricating votes led to 7.2-million voters registering rather than the expected 10 million. Civil society initiatives help bolster participation, but limited connectivity and withdrawal of donor funds, including from USAID, weakened civic education, particularly in rural areas.

International observers from the African Union, Southern African Development Community, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and European Union (EU) are expected to enhance transparency. However, their credibility has been questioned.

The EU’s premature endorsement of the 2019 result, which the courts later annulled, damaged trust. The EU also gave a positive preliminary assessment of Kenya’s annulled 2017 vote. Election observers add greater value when deployed long-term, tackling the entire electoral process rather than just on polling day.

This lesson is not unique to Malawi. Kenya and Zambia also grapple with whether courts, commissions and observers can balance the advantage held by incumbents. Malawi’s reforms show that institutional resilience is possible, but fragile. Freedom House ranked Malawi as ‘Partly Free’ while the Economist Intelligence Unit categorised it as a ‘Hybrid Regime’ in 2024.

Malawi’s 2025 election is more than a test of procedures; it will assess whether reforms can build trust and credibility. While legal safeguards have improved, episodic violence, misinformation and last-minute rule changes threaten these gains.

Democratic success will depend not only on the MEC and judiciary, but also on political parties respecting the rules, civil society sustaining citizen engagement with limited funding, and international observers monitoring the full cycle.

Linking reforms to citizens’ everyday priorities like food security and healthcare is essential to ensure democratic dividends are meaningful and resilient.

Written by Zenge Simakoloyi, Research Officer, Africa Peace and Security Governance, ISS