Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM) has expressed budget constraints present a major challenge in conducting the operations of the upcoming local council elections.
Speaking at the meeting of the national advisory committee on elections, Vice President of ECM Ahmed Akram said the commission had requested an additional USD 1.36 million to the elections budget following the amendments brought to the Decentralisation Act. Akram said although Ministry of Finance has assured the additional amount will be arranged, delays in providing the additional budget present major challenges in conducting operations of the election.
During the meeting, discussions were held on stamping ballot papers, similar to the parliamentary elections in April. The commission has decided against stamping the ballot papers, as a large amount of ballot papers will be printed for the upcoming elections which may lead to missing stamps in some papers.
Meanwhile, discussions were also held on the voting procedure for women’s development committees. ECM says the women’s development committee elections can only be contested among women who are registered at the particular constituency, although both men and women can take part in the vote.
The local council elections, along with the women’s development committee elections, will be held on April 4.