The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has stated that the voters’ list for the upcoming presidential election will be finalised with signatures from the candidates.
Responding to questions over the validity of the voters’ list, Vice President of ECM Ismail Habeeb noted that the list is open to public scrutiny and that the electoral body will be publishing the changes to the list in accordance with the relevant regulations. He added that individuals have the right to take the issue to court if they are not satisfied with the response to their complaints. He added that the final voters’ list will be signed by the candidates and published in the Government Gazette.
ECM has responded to all the complaints submitted regarding the voters’ list and will publish changes to the list in the Government Gazette within a week. Only those on the list can vote in the first round of the presidential election and the electoral body has thanked political parties, local councils, election focal points, and individuals for their assistance in preparing an accurate list.
Furthermore, ECM will allow voters in islands other than their resident islands to re-register online for the presidential election. As such, the opportunity to re-register will be opened on July 16 while the opportunity to re-register online will be closed on July 29 and ECM will then accept physical re-registration forms until August 5.
The presidential election is scheduled to be held on September 9 and a possible second round will be held on September 30. The eligible voting population for the presidential election is 282,672 voters and over 600 ballot boxes will be placed for the presidential election, which is the largest number of boxes to be placed in any election in the Maldives. ECM has established its main headquarters for the election at Dharubaaruge' convention centre.