Malawi registers 2.8 million new voters on its electoral roll

Malawi’s voter registration exercise has so far registered over 2.8 million new voters who are expected to cast their votes in the 2009 parliamentary and presidential elections, according to Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) spokesperson Fergus Lipenga here Wednesday.

He told APA on Wednesday during an interview that the exercise, which is still going on and is in its fifth phase, aims to register seven million new voters for the general elections.

"We are optimistic that the number of new voters will surpass the actual target which the commission had announced earlier," he said.

Lipenga said voters were coming in large numbers to register in order for them to exercise their rights of choosing their leaders.

Malawi goes to the polls on 19 May 2009.