The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has stated that voters in islands other than their resident islands will have the opportunity to re-register through physical forms in addition to re-registering online.
Speaking to PSM News, President of ECM Fuad Thaufeeq said the online re-registration process was facilitated for the convenience of all voters. He, however, said that voters will have the opportunity to re-register through physical forms for the upcoming presidential election.
ECM has stated that re-registration for the presidential election will be open from July 16 to August 5. More than 282,000 individuals will vote in this year's presidential election and about 100,000 are expected to re-register. These include individuals that travel from one island to another in the atolls, individuals who work on islands other than their own, and individuals that live abroad.
ECM has granted 10 days to submit complaints on the permanent voters’ list published in the Government Gazette. ECM published the voters’ list on May 2, which includes 282,755 individuals. A total of 197 complaints were also received during the period, of which 69 were rejected for various reasons. As such, 282,672 individuals are now eligible to vote after administrative complaints were filed on the initial list.
ECM will place over 600 ballot boxes for the presidential election, which is the largest number of boxes to be placed in any election in the Maldives. It is an increase of 128 boxes compared to the 472 ballot boxes placed during the presidential election held in 2018. The presidential election will be held on September 9 and a possible second round would be held on September 30. ECM has established its main headquarters for the election at Dharubaaruge' convention centre.