Election
Malawi 2019–2020 Presidential Election and Fresh Election
May 21, 2019 – June 23, 2020
Malawi's Constitutional Court annulled the declared May 2019 presidential result — a narrow Peter Mutharika win — after finding widespread, systematic and grave irregularities, including tally sheets altered with correction fluid, duplicated and substituted. The court ordered a fresh election and ruled that the presidency requires an absolute majority (50% + 1). The Supreme Court upheld the decision in May 2020, and on 23 June 2020 Lazarus Chakwera won the rerun with 58.57% — only the second court-ordered presidential rerun in Africa after Kenya in 2017, and a landmark for judicial election protection on the continent.
Official results
The 2019 declaration was invalidated by the Constitutional Court and is preserved here only as the historical record of what was announced; it never had legal effect. Turnout shown is for the 2020 fresh election (6,859,570 registered voters).
Declared 21 May 2019 result — annulled by the Constitutional Court on 3 February 2020
- Peter Mutharika (DPP)38.6%1,940,709
Declared winner; the declaration was invalidated
- Lazarus Chakwera (MCP)35.4%1,781,740
- Saulos Chilima (UTM)20.2%1,018,369
Fresh election, 23 June 2020
- Lazarus Chakwera (Tonse Alliance, MCP)58.6%2,604,043
Winner — the first Malawian president elected under the 50% + 1 majority requirement
- Peter Mutharika (DPP–UDF Alliance)39.4%1,751,877
- Peter Dominick Kuwani (MMD)0.7%32,456
The Integrity Ledger
What the evidence establishes, and what it does not — side by side, each finding sourced and tiered.
What is established
- Process violationsConfirmed
The Constitutional Court found the 2019 election marred by widespread, systematic and grave irregularities — tally sheets corrected with Tippex, duplicate sheets, and altered results — held that the MEC had failed in its constitutional duties, annulled the presidential result and ordered a fresh election. The Supreme Court upheld the annulment in full on 8 May 2020.
What is not established
- Result falsificationAlleged
Mutharika and the DPP alleged the 2020 fresh election was itself stolen — calling it the worst-run election in Malawi's history and citing violence and intimidation against their monitors — and sought its annulment. No court or observer mission substantiated a falsified count; the rerun was broadly assessed as credible and its result stood.
Process assessment
The 2019 vote failed at the aggregation stage: the physical tally-sheet record could not support the declared result. The 2020 rerun, conducted under a reconstituted commission with heightened scrutiny of every tally sheet, was assessed as credible by domestic and international observers, and the courts' handling of the case became a regional reference for election dispute resolution.