The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has revealed that most of the complaints submitted so far were regarding deceased individuals included in the voters’ list for the upcoming presidential election. ECM has so far received 21 complaints regarding the inclusion of deceased individuals in the list, and received three complaints regarding the absence of names, and one complaint regarding the inclusion of a minor.
The 2023 presidential election will be held on September 9. The voters’ list includes 282,755 individuals consisting of 144,408 men and 138,347 women. It is a 10% increase compared to the 262,135 eligible voters in the 2018 presidential election. This year’s election will also see 21,000 new voters.
ECM will be accepting complaints regarding the list until June 2. The electoral body will also be accepting candidacies from July 23 to August 3 and will announce the names of the candidates on August 9, after which the candidates will be allowed to campaign from August 10 to September 8.
Those who have announced their intention to run in the election include President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who won the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) primary election, and the candidate of the main opposition coalition former President Abdulla Yameen, who is serving an 11-year prison sentence over corruption and money laundering. He will receive the opportunity to run in the election if he wins the appeal case.
Additionally, Leader of Jumhooree Party (JP) Qasim Ibrahim and President of the Maldives National Party (MNP) Mohamed Nazim have received their party tickets while former Minister of Home Affairs Umar Naseer and former Attorney General (AG) Dr. Mohamed Munawar have announced their intention to run in the election.