1971 Malawian general election

General elections were due to be held in Malawi on 17 April 1971, the first since the pre-independence elections in 1964. The Malawi Congress Party had been the only legally permitted party in the country since 1966. Each of the 60 constituencies had three to five candidates nominated by party committees. The committees then submitted the candidates' names to President Hastings Banda, who selected a single candidate for each seat. All prospective candidates had to declare their allegiance to Banda before being allowed to stand.

As there was only one candidate for each constituency, no voting actually took place on election day, and the candidates selected by Banda were elected unopposed. However, only 56 of the seats were filled, and following the election, Banda nominated another eight members to the National Assembly.