Election Commission of Maldives (ECM) has stated votes of 5,808 individuals in the upcoming local council elections (LCE) cannot be kept anonymous due to the manner in which re-registration was completed.
While speaking at the National Advisory Committee regarding the voters’ list for LCE, President of ECM Ahmed Shareef stated the voters’ list has been publicised with adjustments following the re-registration period. However, he stated there are 5,808 individuals whose votes cannot be kept anonymous, due to the location of their re-registration. The anonymity of votes are lost when only one voter is registered for a particular constituency in a ballot box.
Shareef additionally stated a 24 hour period, starting from the time the list was published, would be given to such voters who would like to re-register to a different location to maintain the anonymity of their votes. He stated the final voters’ list would be published on March 14.
Moreover, Shareef stated the commission is currently carrying out the final preparations for the upcoming elections. He further revealed the committee has met with the company assigned with printing the ballot papers, adding printing is expected to start next Sunday. The ballot papers are to be printed in colour.
While speaking about the training programs to be conducted on Sunday to prepare officials in all islands for the election, Shareef stated officials have been allocated for the ballot boxes in all the islands except Maafushi.
The LCE, along with the women’s development committee (WDC) elections will be held on April 4.