Malé, Maldives – The President of the Elections Commission (EC) has expressed the intention to appeal a Supreme Court Guideline which states that voter re-registration can not be conducted online, and fingerprints are required on the re-registration form.
The Elections Commission states that this guideline has posed a number of challenges in the preparations for the upcoming Local Council Elections (LCE) and has brought this to the attention of the Parliament. The Committee on Independent Institutions and the Budget Committee have been informed of the challenges faced by EC.
The Chairperson of the Committee on Independent Institutions addressed the issue saying that she considers this guideline to be invalid.
The EC sent a letter to the Supreme Court regarding this, and received a reply that the guideline is still valid and must be followed by the Elections Commission.
Following this, the EC has decided to formally appeal the Supreme Court’s guideline.
Elections Commission today opened re-registration for the upcoming LCE to be held on April 10. Re-registration forms will be issued and accepted from the Elections Center from the old Jamaluddin School building in Male’ City, and from local councils in other Atolls. The opportunity is open till March 11.
