Malawi's 2025 General Election offers a high-impact lesson for election managers: technology creates real value when it is treated as part of an institution's everyday operating capacity, not as a standalone innovation.
A Post-Election Review prepared for the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) found that integrated digital systems strengthened operational efficiency, data integrity and electoral service delivery across the electoral cycle. The review was commissioned by MEC and drew on stakeholder consultations across the country. MEC has also published an overview of the post-election review process here.The review concludes: "The successful integration of digital systems demonstrated the Commission's growing institutional capacity to modernize electoral management while strengthening operational efficiency, data integrity and service delivery." (Post-Election Review, p. 77)
In 2025, digital tools moved beyond isolated use cases to become an integral part of electoral administration. That progress reflected MEC's ownership and operation of the technology, supported by the staff, procedures, communications and infrastructure required to make it work in a high-stakes national election.
In the review's words: "Technology was no longer deployed as a series of isolated innovations but had become an integral component of electoral administration across multiple stages of the electoral cycle." (Post-Election Review, p. 77)
Technology across the electoral cycle
The deployment included 6,500 Election Management Devices (EMDs) and 15,200 Biometric Voter Verification Devices (BVVDs).
The EMDs supported voter registration and transfers, register verification, candidate nominations, and results management, reducing manual processes and improving the management of electoral data.
At polling stations, BVVDs supported voter identification and verification. The review records that approximately 85 percent of voters were biometrically verified on election day. Stakeholder feedback in the report associates biometric verification with stronger safeguards against impersonation and manipulation, and greater transparency in the voting process.
Stakeholders reported: "The BVVD increased transparency and public trust by preventing impersonation and manipulation." (Post-Election Review, p. 78)
These are important outcomes, but they should not be read as a claim that technology alone creates confidence. The lesson is more practical: technology strengthens confidence when it supports clear procedures, is used competently by election staff, and is understood by voters, political actors and observers.
Visibility at every stage of results processing
The review also highlights the results-management process, which digitized, transmitted and tabulated results from constituency tally centers to the national tally center. A digital results pipeline is not only a matter of speed; it makes the process more visible, traceable and manageable when results are under intense public scrutiny.
Stakeholder comments recorded in the review indicate that the speed and visibility of this digital process contributed to an orderly conclusion of results processing. That does not remove the need for transparent legal procedures, auditable records and clear public communication. Rather, it shows how well-integrated systems can reinforce those safeguards at a moment when trust matters most.
Analysts have since linked that same clarity to a broader democratic outcome: a decisive, quickly confirmed result allowed President Chakwera to concede early, which eased pressure on the judiciary and lowered the risk of post-election disputes (Chatham House).
The stakeholder feedback is explicit: "The speed and visibility of this digital pipeline contributed heavily to an undisputed, orderly conclusion of the results processing phase." (Post-Election Review, pp. 78-79)
Institutional capacity is the real enabler
Malawi's experience points to a broader principle for electoral authorities globally: the success of election technology depends on the institution around it.
The Post-Election Review notes that MEC was able to own and operate the technology directly, a result of effective training and knowledge transfer during deployment. Sustainable systems depend on this kind of institutional readiness: trained staff, documented processes, local operational knowledge, and contingency plans that work under pressure.
The review also identifies areas for continued improvement, including transparent technology governance, clearer legal and operational frameworks, comprehensive testing, hands-on training, proactive public communication and resilient arrangements for connectivity and power.
The review cautions: "Successful technology adoption depends not only on technical functionality but equally on stakeholder confidence in how technology is governed, managed and communicated." (Post-Election Review, p. 78)
Those recommendations are not an approval of technology per se. They are a roadmap for making it more reliable, understandable and trusted.
A lesson for future elections
The most useful takeaway from Malawi is not that any single device or platform is a solution in itself. It is that digital electoral systems are most effective when embedded in capable institutions and supported by rigorous planning.
Technology can improve efficiency, protect data integrity and enhance electoral service delivery. But its legitimacy ultimately rests on transparent governance, human capability and the confidence of the people it serves.
The review remains a consultative document reflecting stakeholder perspectives and observer evidence; it is not a final MEC reform program or an institutional endorsement by MEC, UNDP or any observer organization.
