Opposition coalition member Jumhoory Party (JP) has also decided not to approve the voters’ registry for the upcoming local council elections.
Main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had also refused to acknowledge the voters’ registry publicised by the Elections Commission for the upcoming election slated for May 6.
As per the precedent set by the apex court during the presidential election in 2013, all candidates contesting in the election have to review their respective constituencies voters’ registry and approve it, before the vote.
JP’s spokesperson Ali Solih said that the party has always supported efforts to decentralise and that they were very keen about the local council elections; however, when they went to the Elections Commission to approve the registry, they were presented with three different lists of eligible voters.
“One list was very detailed and had the constituents pictures and ID numbers, the other list did not have the pictures, and on the third list there were lots of information missing – such as the ID card numbers,” Solih elaborated.
When JP questioned the Elections Commission about the inconsistency of the voters’ registry, the commission said that different lists served different purposes and that the list without the voters’ ID numbers was for the electoral monitors placed at the voting stations. However, Solih noted how the electoral monitors lists had all the details of the voters in previous elections.
Solih said that JP will approve the voters’ registry as soon as they are given consistent lists, and urged the Elections Commission and all parties involved not drag out the process.
MDP also raised similar concerns about the voters registry on Monday. They had also highlighted the discrepancies and inconsistencies in the lists that were presented.
Further, according to MDP’s secretary-general Anas Abdul-Sattar, the party had appealed to the Elections Commission many times to fix the problems they highlighted, however their concerns were ignored.
According to the election guidelines set by the apex court, the voters’ registry should have the full names, ID numbers and the addresses of the voters, and the list must be reviewed and approved by every candidate contesting in the election.
