The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has handed over electoral materials for the recent by-elections held in Phalombe and Mangochi to Parliament in Lilongwe.

According to Deputy Clerk of Parliament responsible for Cooperate Services Chikondi Kachinjika, the materials will be kept for a period of one year before they are destroyed.

Kachinjika has since assured the electoral body that the materials will be kept safe until they are disposed of.

“They are very safe, for your own information, we have been keeping these records for a long time and we have no incidences ever since so they are very safe we offer our serious security for them,” Kachingika said.

MEC Commissioner Jean Mathanga said the handing over of the electoral materials apparently signifies the end of the electoral process.

“This signifies the end of the process of elections, it is mandatory by the law in the Parliamentary Presidential Elections Act section 119.

We are required as a Commission after every presidential and every parliamentary election to deposit the materials with parliament these are things like ballot papers, results sheets and the issues is parliament to get those record for a period of 12 months,” explained Mathanga.

According to section 119 of the preservation of the election documents, at the end of its functions, the Commission shall deposit all documents forming the official record of an election (including voters registers, ballot papers, records from districts and polling stations and summaries thereof and the record and summary of the national result) with the Clerk of Parliament who shall retain and preserve such documents in safe and secure custody without destruction for a period of twelve months.