Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM) has revealed ballot boxes will be placed in 22 resorts during the upcoming local council elections.
Speaking at a press conference, President of ECM Ahmed Shareef said voter re-registration had been opened for 53 resorts, while only 22 resorts had the required number of 50 voters by the end of the re-registration period. Therefore, Shareef said ECM will be placing ballot boxes in 22 resorts in the local council elections. He added voters who re-registered in resorts which did not acquire the required number of voters will be given an opportunity to re-register at another location.
During the parliamentary elections in April 2019, ballot boxes were placed in 33 resorts. Only 16 of these resorts reached the ceiling of 50 re-registered voters for the local council elections, while 6 new resorts reached the required number of voters to receive a ballot box.
ECM further revealed a total of 22,000 individuals re-registered to vote at a different location from their registered location. The commission said all the applications should be processed by the end of today.
The president of ECM said the opportunity to submit complaints to the re-registration list will be opened from March 10 to 11, with the final voters’ list expected to be published on March 14. He said the candidates and their representatives are scheduled to sign the final voters’ list from March 20 to 24, while the lists will be forwarded to polling stations from March 27 onwards.
ECM says approximately 545 ballot boxes will be placed across Maldives during the council elections, with the amount to be finalised after all stages of re-registration are completed.
A total of 269,562 people are eligible to vote in the local council elections, scheduled to be held on April 4.