Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM) has stated candidate numbers in the local council elections will be allocated in a way one number does not repeat in a single ballot paper.
Speaking at the 7th meeting of the national advisory committee of ECM, president of the commission Ahmed Shareef noted a single ballot paper will include 4 voting categories, including island council president, atoll council president, members of the island council and the slot allocated for women in the island council. Shareef said candidate numbers will be selected after drawing lots from candidates for all four categories together, so that one number may not repeat in one ballot paper. He said ECM made the decision to select candidate numbers this way in order to reduce confusion for voters.
The decision was endorsed by all members of the advisory committee. Parliamentarian Ali Niyaz, who represented Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in the committee meeting, expressed belief that printing the ballot papers in colour will reduce any complications that may arise with the candidate numbers. Upon advice from the committee, ECM has decided to print ballot papers in colour.
During the meeting, discussions were also held on conducting public awareness programmes on the council elections and on setting the regulations for declaring null/invalid votes.