The Elections Commission (EC) has stated that it aims to set up voting centers for the upcoming local council election at as many resorts as possible.
After long delays, the Local Council Election is scheduled to take place on April 10. President of EC, Ahmed Shareef Adam said the commission is working to set up vote centers at all resorts that request for it.
Although vote centers could not be set up in some resorts in previous elections, resort workers had the option to travel to nearby inhabited islands to cast their vote. However, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) will not be allowing resort workers to travel to islands this election as a precautionary measure against COVID-19, said Shareef. Therefore, vote centers will be set up at as many resorts as possible if local resorts allow the arrangement, he added.
HPA has introduced a special guideline to be followed during the election. EC has previously stated that the guidelines set by HPA poses challenges to organizing the election. EC has also stated that the commission is considering requesting the Parliament to delay the election. However, local political parties are against delaying the election further.
EC has announced that vote centers cannot be set up in some countries this year, including UK and Malaysia. Although a large number of Maldivians reside in both countries, the precautionary measures taken against COVID-19 in the respective countries do not allow for vote centers to be set up, said EC.
272,480 are eligible to vote in the upcoming local council election and the Women's Development Committee election. This includes 51,499 people in capital Male' and 220,981 people from the atolls.
