BLANTYRE, Malawi — Malawi held elections Tuesday to choose a president, lawmakers and local government representatives, the first national vote since a 2019 presidential election was nullified and redone a year later because of widespread irregularities.
Here is what to know as people cast their votes in the southern African country grappling with fuel shortages and a cost-of-living crisis.
Top contenders were rivals in the previous election
This election features the same two main candidates that faced off in the fraudulent 2019 vote.
Then-incumbent Peter Mutharika won that election against the closest challenger, Lazarus Chakwera, only for a court to invalidate Mutharika's win and order a rerun following months of street protests. Chakwera won a new election held more than a year lat