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Early vote counts from northern Malawi show former President Peter Mutharika edging ahead of incumbent Lazarus Chakwera in the Presidential election.
However, projections suggest the contest could head to a runoff, with no candidate expected to secure the 50 percent majority required for an outright victory.
Vote counting began after polls closed at 16h00 CAT on Tuesday, with tallying centres across the country working through the night, according to SABC news.
The Malawi Electoral Commission has yet to release consolidated national figures but has indicated that results will be verified before being announced in stages.
Eighty-five-year-old Mutharika has been widely viewed as a formidable challenger to Chakwera, 70, in what analysts have described as a rematch of one of the country’s most fiercely contested political rivalries.
The two men first clashed in the disputed 2019 elections, when Mutharika, then the incumbent, was declared the winner.
That result was later nullified by Malawi’s Constitutional Court due to widespread irregularities, prompting a rerun in 2020, which Chakwera went on to win.
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