The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has announced a change in the design of voting booths for the 2024 parliamentary election. The decision comes after concerns were raised about the positioning of booths during the presidential election held in September, leading to two subsequent changes in their placement.
At a meeting, the Parliamentary Independent Institutions Committee expressed concern regarding the booth placements in recent elections. The committee also raised concerns about a considerable number of invalid ballots during the presidential election and anticipated similar issues as a higher number of candidates would be contesting in the parliamentary elections.
During meeting, Secretary General of ECM Hassan Zakariyya clarified that the booth placements were carried out in accordance with the decision of the National Advisory Committee on Elections. He, however, mentioned that the design of the booths will be changed for the upcoming parliamentary election.
Addressing the issue of invalid votes during the presidential election, ECM pledged to find a solution for the upcoming election. President of ECM Fuad Thaufeeq disclosed that a review of the ballot papers is underway to investigate the invalidated votes, highlighting that some ballots were deliberately invalidated.
In the first round of the presidential election, 4,835 votes were declared invalid, and this number significantly increased to 7,888 votes in the second round.