High Court of Maldives has decided against including 7 names in the final voters list. The decision was made regarding the cases filed by 7 plaintiffs, whose names were not included in the final voters list, as voters registered to vote at Thimarafushi in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The plaintiffs filed the cases at the High Court citing the Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM) refused to accept their grievances. All the plaintiffs demanded their names to be included in the final voters list, via a temporary court order, as people registered to vote at the Island in Thaa Atoll. However, ECM maintained the March 19 deadline for submitting complaints was specifically for administrative complaints and not otherwise.
In separate hearings, the High Court ruled the plaintiffs filed the cases after the five-day duration has passed. The court also highlighted ECM has to refer to the database of the Department of National Registration (DNR) when compiling the voters list, adding the 7 individuals changed the addresses after the duration has passed to register to vote in the elections.
Therefore, the High Court ruled there are no legal or constitutional grounds to issue an order on ECM to include the individuals in the final voters list.