Tag: voter registration

Elections Commission slams PPM, MDA protesters and police for obstructing election re-registration

The Elections Commission (EC) has “strongly condemned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and Maldivian Development Alliance (MDA) supporters for threatening officials, inciting discord, and obstructing EC officials’ ability to work”, and has notified the government that the Maldives Police Service (MPS) failed to remove the protesters from the registration section’s premises for five hours “despite repeated efforts and requests for police assistance”.

A midnight ruling from the Supreme Court on October 10 ordered the commission to disregard re-registration efforts for the annulled presidential elections, and restart the entire process with fingerprinted forms for all voters who wish to vote in a location other than their permanent address.

The 65,000 people previously registered to vote in locations other than their permanent addresses have to re-register because there was no thumb print on their registration forms, EC Chairperson Fuad Thowfeek explained to Minivan News earlier this week.

Speaking to the press tonight, Thowfeek said the PPM and MDA ruckus had caused a six hour delay in reregistration. The EC has accepted all reregistration forms, and will finish processing all forms by 8:00 am tomorrow (October 15). The EC has urged all eligible voters to check their reregistration status and submit complaints by 6:00 pm tomorrow.

A system crash around 2:30pm Sunday afternoon due to the large volume of data saw the EC begin manually entering data to continue processing while the system was restarted. An official told Minivan News yesterday the problem was fixed two hours later at 4:30pm, however some people reportedly became upset as the manual process meant they were unable to be immediately issued with a confirmation slip. 2500 tickets remained at the time of the crash, the official noted.

Boisterous PPM and its allied MDA supporters in the queue quickly accused the EC of attempting to rig the election.

After the EC began to manually process the registration forms “a group of people representing the MDA and PPM protested against the move, threatened the officials at the premises, incited discord in the premises and obstructed the work of the Elections Commission officials in an uncivilised manner,” the Elections Commission stated in a press release issued last night (October 13).

“Despite repeated efforts and requests for police assistance the EC had to suspend its work of processing the re-registration forms due to the PPM/MDA led actions, which made it extremely difficult for the EC to provide its services to the public and caused a lot of people to endure great difficulties,” said the EC.

“An environment that allowed the Elections Officials to work without fear and threats was only created five hours later, after police removed supporters and activists of both the MDA and the PPM from the Elections Commission’s registration department,” the EC continued.

“In this regard, the incident was brought to the attention of President’s Office, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Defense and National Security, the Chief Justice, Speaker of the Parliament and the Parliament’s Independent Institutions Oversight Committee,” the EC said.

“We disappointingly note that the events that took place [on October 13] caused huge derailment of the efforts being made by the Elections Commission to hold the presidential election as per the deadline given by the Supreme Court, and we strongly condemn these actions,” the EC added.

“We also call upon the political parties and political parties to not cause such hindrances to the commission in the future, and act in a responsible manner.”

Elections Commissioner Fuwad Thowfeek told Minivan News on Friday evening that the EC had received threats that the voter registration section would be attacked, and that “people would throw stones at the windows and burn things there.”

“When we received that information we wrote to the police and Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) requesting protection of our office. It’s very sad. There are a group of people who want to block this [vote], those who know they may not do well, so they are trying to buy time and make the election difficult. But I hope these things can be handled by the police and MNDF. The whole world is watching and wants this election,” he told Minivan News.

Re-registration process

“The Elections Commission is tirelessly working to ensure that the Presidential Election is to be held before the deadline of October 20, given by the Supreme Court in its judgement (No. 2013/SC-C/42), amidst getting just 10 days to facilitate all the necessary arrangements,” stated the commission. “With regard to this, the opportunity to apply for voter re-registration was opened until 4:30pm October 12.”

Over 12,000 individuals were issued token numbers to submit their voter re-registration forms and as of 9:00am today the last person was served, EC Secretary General Sattar told local media today. As of midnight 23,000 forms had been processed and the EC is “continuously working” to process the remainder.

The EC will be able to present the final voters list to presidential candidates on Wednesday or Thursday this week, Sattar added.

The commission estimates that 65,000 individuals will re-register to vote outside of their home island, the same the number of people who re-registered on the ‘dhaftharu’ for the now annulled first round of the presidential election.

Prior to PPM and MDA supporters disrupting re-registration yesterday, the EC was accepting re-registration forms based on tokens issued until 4:30pm on October 12.

“Re-registration forms submitted by political parties were accepted in bundles, with each set containing 100 forms. In that regard, the Election Commission collected all re-registration forms submitted by political parties by 7:00am on October 13,” stated the EC.

“Individuals who personally wanted to re-register themselves at the commission were issued two different types of token numbers. A different range of token numbers were issued for individuals submitting less than five forms and individuals submitting more than five forms, but less than ten forms,” the commission continued.

“The secretariat of the Elections Commission had continuously given the service of accepting the forms to these token numbers without any interruptions… [until] approximately around midday, when the officials at the service counters of the Elections Commission secretariat had to process the forms manually [due to failure of its network],” the commission noted.

Disruptive protests by PPM and MDA supporters began shortly thereafter.

Fingerprint verification

The Supreme Court issued another midnight ruling October 14 that ordered the Elections Commission (EC) to address the complaints of any individual who has the right to stand for election, “including the verification of fingerprints on re-registration forms through the Department of National Registration.”

PPM presidential candidate Abdulla Yameen recently told local newspaper Haveeru that it “would be hard” for him to approve the voter registry – another recent requirement from the Supreme Court – should the EC not verify fingerprints.

However, the Elections Commission has not received any official complaints regarding the re-registration process and any questions regarding the validity of voter registration forms will be addressed in conjunction with the Department of National Registration (DNR), as ordered by the Supreme Court, EC Secretary General Asim Abdul Sattar told local media.

Complaints about the voter registry should be issued “sensibly before the election” scheduled to take place October 19, Sattar told Minivan News today.

Based on the Supreme Court order, “any form” could be subject to verification, including the entire voter registry, Sattar explained.

While the Department of National Registration (DNR) and Maldives Police Service (MPS) both have the capability to verify fingerprints on voter registration forms, neither institution can verify all the data, he added.

Despite the Supreme Court order requiring fingerprinted voter registration forms, the Elections Commission has said it does not have the technical capacity to verify if the forms have the correct fingerprints.

“There is no way for the EC to verify the authenticity of their thumbprints,” EC Chairperson Fuwad Thowfeek told Minivan News earlier this week.

“The Supreme Court verdict does not say we have to verify [fingerprints]. We don’t have the capacity to do that. No institution does. But if we notice a problem, we can take those particular forms to the police for investigation,” Elections Commission member Ali Mohamed Manik previously noted.

Meanwhile, police would require approximately five minutes per form to cross-check information on the voter registration form with the DNR database and then verify the validity of fingerprints. With over 60,000 re-registration forms to process, it would take a minimum of six months to complete, the MPS told local media today.

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Over 10,000 voters re-register as EC continues runoff preparations

The Elections Commission (EC) has received over 10,000 voter re-registration forms as its preparations for the second round of the presidential election continue amid controversy catalyzed by the Jumhooree coalition’s refusal to accept the first round results.

The coalition’s allegations of vote rigging have resulted in ongoing cases in the Supreme Court and High Court. Earlier this week, police barricaded the EC secretariat in response to these claims, searching its trash unsuccessfully for evidence of voter registry fraud.

The media has continued to disseminate unsubstantiated information about the commission, and threats have been directed at the EC’s chair, his family, and the vice chair, as well as EC official Ibrahim ‘Ogaru’ Waheed in the week-and-a-half since the presidential election’s first round.

The Jumhooree Party’s allegations that the EC rigged the first round vote include claims that an inaccurate voter registry and fake identity cards allowed individuals to vote more than once, or to cast ballots in the names of deceased people. The party has also alleged that the ballot counting process lacked transparency.

The EC has subsequently raised concerns that there may not be a suitable environment for the presidential election’s second round should Villa TV (VTV) – owned by JP leader Gasim Ibrahim – continue to deliberately spread false information and incite people to rise up against the commission.

Parliament’s National Security Committee and the Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC) are currently conducting separate investigations into the matter.

Despite these challenges, the EC is continuing to prepare for the second round runoff – scheduled for September 28 – and has emphatically dismissed allegations of vote rigging as “baseless and unfounded”. The EC has highlighted its transparency, its ongoing complaints investigations, and the praise from a broad spectrum of election observers who noted peaceful voting and the preparedness of the EC.

“With [election] officials from different sources [working] in front of [election] observers, there was no way the type of fraud [the JP is alleging] could be made,” EC Chair Fuwad Thowfeek recently told Minivan News.

“We have been strictly following the rules, regulations, laws, and constitution, so I don’t think there is room for anything to stop the second round voting,” he said.

“We are printing the ballot papers, conducting refresher training sessions for officials, prepping all the logistics, including travel plans, etc.,” he noted.

Over 10,000 re-register

Individuals registered to vote in one location had a four day re-registration opportunity – ending on Sunday (September 15) – to change that location according to their needs for the September 28 run-off.

The EC yesterday revealed that its secretariat in Male’ had received 10,000 re-registration forms and has sent replies to each individual. The commission is also currently processing re-registration forms forwarded from island councils in the atolls.

“The exact number of people who re-registered will only be known after the registration process is completed. About 10,000 forms were submitted for Male’ alone,” said EC Registration Department Head Aminath Majdha. “The exact number will be known when we know the number of forms submitted to the councils from the atolls.”

The re-registration forms that the commission has received thus far include new voters who did not participate in the first round polling, such as individuals who recently turned 18, as well as Maldivians who will be in Saudi Arabia performing the Hajj pilgrimage, Majdha explained.

The number of Maldivians now registered to vote in Saudi Arabia requires a ballot box to be stationed in the country, she added.

For the presidential election’s first round the EC stationed 470 ballot boxes on local islands, resorts, and diplomatic missions in Singapore, London, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, as well as Trivandrum and New Delhi in order to accommodate 239,593 eligible voters.

Voting with forged ID’s not possible: DNR

Meanwhile, the Department of National Registration (DNR) has dismissed the possibility of individuals voting with forged national identity cards.

DNR Director General Fareeda Yoosuf has insisted there was no chance forged ID’s could be used to vote.

Each individual identity card is unique and does not change even when renewed and, even in cases where lost IDs are replaced, the same identity number is used, Yoosuf noted.

“The card number will remain the same for each individual no matter how many times the card is renewed,” she explained. “We haven’t issued identity cards with two different numbers to the same person, so I’m certain that can’t be done.”

“When each person has a unique number and is allowed to vote based on that number, there is no chance a person can vote more than once by using different ID numbers,” she continued.

No complaints of forged identity cards have been received by the DNR so far, she noted.

Earlier this week, the EC also announced that eight deceased individuals the JP had claimed to be on the electoral register had been found to be living.

The commission has determined that the eight people did cast ballots and has met five of them, EC Vice Chair Ahmed Fayaz told local media. The commission has received information that the other three individuals are also alive, though the EC has not yet been able to meet them.

Recount impossible

During last week’s National Advisory Committee meeting – where the JP, the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), and incumbent President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s representatives called for a recount of ballot boxes from the first round – the EC noted that the alleged voter discrepancy was not enough to call for a recount of all 470 ballot boxes.

The law states there are two instances where ballot boxes may be recounted: 1) If the EC decides the voting process was compromised and decides to conduct a recount to address a complaint(s); 2) If there is a court order issued for a recount, EC Vice Chair Fayaz explained recently.

However, the EC also emphasised that all the commission’s members were willing to conduct a recount of any ballot box where credible evidence of fraud is presented.

It would be impossible to conduct a recount prior to the second round, given that the time consuming task would require about two months to complete, EC Chair Thowfeek explained to Haveeru yesterday (September 16).

“That is something that simply cannot be done, it will take a long time to recount the votes,” said Thowfeek. “It takes around 12 hours to count four or five ballot boxes.”

Requesting a recount without any legal basis – only to remove personal doubts – is not sanctioned by the constitution or the elections law, he continued.

“The ballots had been counted in the presence of monitors, observers and representatives, so even if there is a recount, the results won’t change,” he noted. “Moreover, a vote recount is not something the people will welcome either.”

However, the PPM has alleged Thowfeek “changed his tune” about the time necessary to conduct a recount, claiming he told the National Advisory Committee the process would take about four days.

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Political ‘speed dating’ draws young voters

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has held a one minute ‘speed dating’ event for 200 young Maldivians aged 18-25 at Seahouse Cafe.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) booked out Seahouse from 9:30 pm to 10:30 pm on Friday night and prepared 200 ‘date’ tokens. The tokens ran out early in the evening however, while questions ran until 11:30 pm.

“The purpose was for first-time voters to meet directly with President Nasheed and to give them a chance to ask any questions that they wanted,” said MDP Youth Wing Leader Shauna Aminath. She added that the many new faces may indicate a boost in voter turnout this Saturday.

Shauna noted  that post-event comments over Twitter, Facebook and other media indicated a demand for a second session.

“I have always wanted to meet President Nasheed  personally and even a minute with him is quite a lot out of his busy schedule,” 24 year-old attendee Isha told Minivan News. “I was very impressed by the event and the fact of getting to speak directly with him was a chance I wouldn’t miss.”

“I wanted to take a selfie with [President Nasheed] because he is one of my greatest idols, and I wanted to show my support. I think he is the best candidate,” said Hassan Sharm, 24.

Nasheed was both a listener and a speaker during the event, fielding questions on higher education, particularly A-level intakes and scholarships, the economy, exclusivity of surf breaks and the MDP manifesto. He also asked about issues important to his young supporters.

“The minute was more about him hearing us,” Isha recalled. “He asked what we did for work. Then we brought up some of the problems we face – slow internet and expensive broadband, and unfortunately he couldn’t comment on it since one minute was over and he had to move to the other table. But I hope he heard us.”

Isha added that Nasheed’s “positive attitude” and attentive ear established him as “one of the most friendly persons I have met in my life.”

Sharm questioned Nasheed on a central issue in post-election projections. Citing the heavy involvement of public security forces and senior political figures in February 2012 transfer of power, “I asked, ‘If you are elected, what is your plan to bring these people to justice?”

Sharm said Nasheed in his reply emphasised that revenge was not part of the equation, and that the focus should be on rendering justice to the injured civilians.

Sharm told the former President that housing was a major concern for young people, as well as a lack of space for community programs.

President Nasheed is known for his unique campaign tactics and strong interest in his youth base; he took the mic at a techno music concert the previous evening. Meanwhile, candidates from the competing Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), Gaumee Ihthihaadh Party (GIP) coalition, and Dhivehi Quamee Party (DQP) have thus far exercised comparatively formal and traditional campaign methods.

Asked whether they would welcome a similar Q&A with the other candidates, Isha and Sharm indicated that the dialogue was mostly about showing support.

“I do not support any of them, would be very hypocritical of me to go,” Isha reasoned.

Sharm declared simply, “No, no, never. Not a chance.”

Aminath pointed out that a critical factor in bringing young people to the table is establishing a sense of ease between the candidate and voter. “Engagement has to be inspired by leaders. [Voters] are inspired by President Nasheed,” she said.

Asked about the competing candidates, attendees Isha and Sharm indicated both concerns and confusion over the other parties policies.

Isha was curious to know whether the others were “intimidated by Nasheed”, while Sharm said he would ask PPM candidate Abdulla Yameen about allegations of PPM’s involvement with Male’s gangs, President Mohamed Waheed about his involvement in the February 7, 2012 controversial transfer of power, and the JP’s Gasim Ibrahim about his plans for national improvement, citing general confusion over what Gasim’s communications on policy and platform to date.

“I would love to know what his plan is,” Sharm explained.

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Elections Commission discovers 38 cases of fraudulent voter registration

The Elections Commission (EC) has revealed that 38 people’s names have been fraudulently re-registered to vote outside of their home towns in next month’s presidential poll, local media has reported.

The fraud emerged when those concerned informed the commission that they had not in fact re-registered.

CNM also reported that 36 names had been registered in more than one polling station. The EC explained that these people will therefore remain registered at their original location.

The EC has declared that 240,302 voters are eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential elections, 31,008 more than the number of eligible voters in the 2008 presidential elections (209,294).

As the deadline for registration passed last week, the EC reported that 65,745 people had re-registered, surpassing original estimates of 65,000. The EC will publish the final voter registry on August 20.

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Elections Commission dismisses concerns of JP, PPM over use of Indian IT staff

The Elections Commission (EC) has dismissed fears foreign nationals will have access to the country’s voter database for upcoming polling, as it seeks assistance from Indian IT professionals to set up software to help oversee future council elections.

EC President Fuwad Thowfeek said he had met this week met with a “combined team” representing the government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and Jumhoree Party (JP) to dismissed their fears that foreign IT workers would be given access to information related to next month’s scheduled election.

“We explained to them that the Indian team would not be working on systems being used for the upcoming presidential election. They will instead be providing assistance to help develop a program for future elections,” he said.

Local media reported today that the PPM and JP had challenged the possibility of holding free and fair elections scheduled for September 7 this year if foreigners could access the electoral database and other systems.

However the EC has moved to dismiss any fears, adding that it only local EC staff had access to sensitive information and the commission’s security systems.

Despite having initially sought local IT professionals for the project, Thowfeek said it had not been possible to find Maldivians with either the programming skills required for the project, or those willing to work within the budget assigned for the project.

“Firms presently operating in Male’ demanded much higher rates to oversee the project,” he added.

Thowfeek said he was surprised by the concerns of the government-aligned parties, given the large number of state bodies and institutions dependent on foreign expertise and assistance.

“This would not be the first time the EC or the government has accepted assistance from friendly nations. For instance the defence ministry has been getting assistance from the US, while police are given a wide variety of training from numerous international bodies,” he said.

“There is no reason why political parties should be worried [about foreign nationals being given access to EC data]. We are fully committed to free elections and remain answerable to the parliament. We will oversee this election with caution and confidence.”

The government is presently considering introducing a border control system provided free of charge by the US government, after this week terminating a contract signed in 2010 with Malaysia-based IT group Nexbis to install similar technology.

Thowfeek added that the EC had traditionally enjoyed a close relationship with its Indian counterpart, particularly for training of its staff abroad on overseeing electoral processes. He said a total of 20 Maldivian staff had received training last year relating to good practice in overseeing voting.

Both the Indian Elections Commission, as well as observers from several EU and Commonwealth nations will be coming to the Maldives to oversee next month’s vote.

“Complex” council elections

According to Thowfeek, the Indian programmers brought over to the Maldives to work with the EC had been hired specifically to develop a computerised system to help monitor future atoll and island council elections.

He said that with some 190 separate island constituencies, two city councils and 20 individual atoll councils, previous voting had presented complex challenges for the EC to overcome – despite the polls seen as credible by observers and local parties.

Based on the EC’s experience of overseeing the last council elections in February 2011, Thowfeek said it would be preferable to commence work on a computer system that could identify the exact number of ballot papers for each specific constituency around the Maldives.

“There are over 200 ballot papers required during a council election, so we are looking for a system that can send the appropriate data [to these islands],” he said.

The proposed system is expected to allow registered Maldives nationals to vote for the council of their respective home island from anywhere in the country, without the need to return to that particular constituency to vote.”

Party concerns

The EC has sought to reassure concerns from assorted political parties this week over the credibility of the upcoming polls.

On Monday (August 5), the EC rejected any possibility that the identities of deceased citizens could be used to fraudulently vote in the upcoming election, after opposition allegations that security forces were seeking to influence polling by misusing such data.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has continued to accuse both the government and senior police officials of trying to undermine free and fair elections, accusing police of actively seeking deceased lists detailing the country’s deceased in an attempts to try and rig voting.

Police later rejected the allegations, with the EC stating that it would not be possible to vote using details of the deceased.

Meanwhile late last month the EC rejected calls by the PPM to make voter registration more “lenient”, with Thowfeek claiming efforts were being stepped up to prevent voter registry fraud, while also dealing with challenges that arose during the country’s first multi-party election in 2008.

“We have worked to rectify these mistakes and in the last council elections there were hardly any complaints raised with us by political parties,” he said at the time. “More than that, we have worked hard this year to get the registry up to date.”

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Low voter registration by Maldivians abroad could mean no voting in London, New Delhi and Singapore

Not sure where you are registered to vote? Check here online

The Elections Commission has warned it may not be able to place ballot boxes in London, Singapore and New Delhi for the upcoming presidential elections September 7, as current figures from the commission suggest that the number of registered voters is trailing below the required minimum 100 registered voters.

Speaking to Minivan News on Thursday, Vice President of the Elections Commission Ahmed Fayaz said that with the deadline for voter registration expiring on August 7, the current rate of registration could mean Maldivians residing in London, New Delhi and Singapore may not be able to cast their vote in the elections.

“However, we can only say that for sure after the deadline expires,” he said.

Fayaz said other regions outside the country where large number of Maldivians currently reside are doing well in terms of registration. So far, the commission confirmed that it will be able to place ballot boxes in Trivandrum, Colombo and Malaysia.

According to Fayaz, 652 Maldivians have registered to vote in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 225 have registered to vote in Trivandrum, India and 302 people have registered to vote in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He also said the commission is currently working to get the figures from Singapore, London and Delhi.

Despite fears expatriate Maldivians would be unable to vote, the Chair of Elections Commission Fuwad Thowfeek – who is currently on the island of Fuahmulah conducting voter education programs – appeared confident that the commission could still place ballot boxes in the affected regions as past experience suggested Maldivians tend to register “at the last minute”.

“Even during the last elections, people registered to vote in the last week of registration. This is the last week. So I believe people will register and we will be able to place ballot boxes in all regions,” Thowfeek said.

Fuwad said the Elections Commission had been collaborating with respective Maldivian High Commissions in the regions to register voters for the upcoming elections.

“We have placed a focal point for the Elections Commission in all the High Commissions including Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India and UK. This has been done on the recommendations of the High Commissions as well,” he explained.

Thowfeek said that High Commissions will help register votes during normal working hours of the respective countries, according to a  procedure is similar to that carried out in the Maldives.

“The process is similar to [registration in] Male. A person who is, say for example, living in Ahmedabad in India can register to vote at Trivandrum through a friend. All he would need to do is to send a copy of his national ID card via fax or email. Likewise, a person living abroad can even register to vote in Male, by doing the same process. It is very similar to the procedure going on in Male,” he explained.

As in the Maldives, Thowfeek also said that political parties can assist in the registration of voters abroad.

“They will have to submit the registration forms to our focal points in the respective High Commissions. Registration can then be done from the High Commissions,” he said.

The Elections Commission has meanwhile established an online mechanism through its website for people to check the ballot box where they are registered to vote.

By entering a national ID card number, the website will display the name of the voter, the permanent address of the voter and the ballot box and the location where the voter is eligible to vote.

For Maldivians residing abroad, details can also be checked at focal points established in the High Commissions, Thowfeek added.

The Elections Commission have previously announced that the Presidential Elections are scheduled to take place on September 7. If no candidate attains the required 50 percent plus one vote to secure a first round election victory a run-off election is to take place 20 days after the first election.

The commission has announced that four candidates will be competing in the elections.

The candidates are leader of the Jumhoree Party (JP) Gasim Ibrahim (running mate Dr Hassan Saeed), Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate former President Mohamed Nasheed (running mate Dr Musthafa Luthfy), incumbent President and independent candidate Dr Mohamed Waheed (running mate DRP leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali) and Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) candidate Abdulla Yameen (running mate Dr Mohamed Jameel.

Check the voter registry and registered place of voting

Download registration form (Dhivehi)

In the Maldives? Check your details via SMS

To check where/if you are registered to vote, SMS 1414 ‘VIS(space)(National ID#)’

To check political party registration, SMS 1414 ‘PPR(space)(National ID#)’

Elections Commission hotline: 1414

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Thousands of voters failing to re-register to vote in Male before August 7 deadline, warns Elections Commission

Only 11,000 out of an estimated 65,000 Maldivians have registered to vote outside of their permanent residence for the September 7 presidential election, with many unregistered voters confident they will not encounter problems voting on election day.

Despite this confidence, many of these same voters have also cited confusion or a lack of awareness about registration and voting regulations.

While public response to the voter re-registration process has been poor, Maldivians can only re-register until August 7, after which time the window of opportunity will end, Elections Commission (EC) President Fuwad Thowfeek told local media.

“We urge everyone to pay special heed to the re-registration. Once the deadline ends, we won’t allow any more chances because we need to verify the forms as well,” Thowfeek explained.

The EC has received some registration forms from political parties that are taking part in the process, which Thowfeek hopes many people are using to re-register to vote prior to the deadline.

The 54,000 person voter registration shortfall has prompted the EC to establish a voter registration desk in the Raalhugandu area – Male’s surf point, adjacent to the Tsunami Monument in Henviru ward – openly nightly from 9:30pm to 11:00pm.

To try and understand what is preventing so many Maldivians from registering to vote, Minivan News spoke to a cross-section of youth – individuals between 18 and 35 years-old – and asked: 1) Whether they plan to vote in the September’s presidential election; 2) Where they plan to cast their vote; 3) If they have registered to vote in that location; 4) If they have checked the voter registration list previously published in the Government Gazette, or with the EC.

An overwhelming majority of those questioned expressed passionate excitement about the upcoming elections and said they plan to vote, and enthusiastically voiced support for a particular political party. However, many of the same individuals were unaware – and even unconcerned – about the voter re-registration process.

“Yeah, I’m gonna vote here in Male’. I think I’m registered, cause a guy from the [island] council talked about it and he took a photocopy of my ID card,” said a 20 year-old, originally from Haa Alif Atoll now living in Male’.

“I didn’t check the [voter registration] list. What does it contain – the list of people who can vote this year?” he asked.

Maldivians originally from the atolls now living in Male’ have also said they find the voter registration process for the Male’ Dhaftharu – a special registry for people who are Male’ residents, but are from other islands – to be “too complicated” or “time consuming”.

“‘Ehburun’ – I support the [Maldivian Democratic Party] (MDP)!” exclaimed a 25 year-old safari boat worker from Shaviyani Atoll, who lives in Male’ with his wife and young children.

He said he plans to vote but has had “no time” to research the voter registration process or check the voter registration list and juggle family and work responsibilities. His wife is also politically passionate, and believes they will have no issues voting on election day, but has not checked the voter registry.

Numerous individuals do not think they need to re-register to vote, especially if they voted in a recent election or if they plan to vote on their home island.

“I will be registered on my island. I’ll be able to walk into the polling station on my island and vote, no problem. I have not checked [the status of] my registration, because there’s no need,” said a 22 year-old who is working and studying in Male’.

This sentiment was reflected almost verbatim by a 21 year-old from Meemu Atoll who works in a private business office in Male’: “I don’t know if I’m registered, but there’s no need. I’ll go to my island on election day and be able to vote no problem.”

Those who plan to travel back to their home islands to vote are completely confident political parties will provide boat transport on election day, and that weather causing rough seas will not be a problem.

Those who plan to travel to their islands – from atolls in the far north to the far south of the Maldives – are indiscriminate about which political party boat they will take, even if it means they will be accepting transport from a party they will not be voting for.

University students studying in Male’ have also told Minivan News that because “transportation is difficult” they are currently looking for scheduled trips to their home islands, but will ultimately have to seek out political party boats traveling from Male’ to the islands on election day. The transport provided by political parties tends to be more “luxurious” than regular ferries, some said.

These college students feel because they are studying full time, and many simultaneously work full time jobs, the EC registration process is too complicated and not flexible enough to accommodate their schedules.

Additionally, they “do not trust political parties enough to register through them”.

Meanwhile, many resort workers are still unsure of the location they will be voting and therefore have not registered to vote.

“I’m not sure if there will be a ballot box on the resort. We have not been informed by the resort management,” said a water sports instructor working on a resort near Male’.

He explained that the Maldivian staff also have not been informed if the resort will provide time off or transportation to another island to vote – and they were not notified during the 2008 presidential election either.

“I want to vote, but even if I knew where I should be voting, I only get one day off, so I cannot come to Male’ to register,” the water-sports instructor added. “There needs to be an online registration system.”

Another resort worker noted that he recalls a voter registration SMS reminder  “bouncing around a while back”, but is still unclear on whether he even needs to register to be eligible to vote.

The EC earlier revealed that only 56 of the country’s 100 resort islands had agreed to allow ballot boxes for staff to vote.

“As an alternative, we’ll place boxes in the islands closest inhabited island and they’ll send their employees [to vote],” Thowfeek said at the time. “Resorts cannot stop their staff from going [to vote] because we have an understanding, an arrangement with them. If they try to stop [their employees from voting] we will take the necessary actions [against them].”

Traveling abroad for work during election has also created problems for some Maldivians.

“If we travel we will miss the election. There should be an early voting system,” said a 25 year-old working in Male’.

Even individuals actively involved in campaigning for a particular political party and assisting with the voter registration process for their constituency are not entirely clear about the re-registration process.

“I’m not sure when the deadline is,” said a 23 year-old campaign volunteer who works in Male’.

“I’m definitely voting for MDP,” declared one 22 year-old in Male’, however though he said he has been very active organising various events – political and non-political – in his neighborhood, he did not think he needed to register to vote.

Voter apathy

While the lack of voter registration awareness has not deterred many Maldivian youth from confidently believing they will be able to vote on September 7 without issue, there are some individuals who feel so politically disenfranchised they are choosing not to vote.

“It won’t matter whether I vote, nothing changes for us, we are mistreated by police under every government administration,” said a 22 year-old working in Male’. “Only politicians and their friends have rights, no one else does.”

“I don’t feel like voting since no one will be willing to do anything good for the citizens. When it comes to voting, they’ll tell us it’s our right. But when we go to get our rights, there’s no rights for us,” said a 23 year-old Maldivian studying abroad in Sri Lanka.

“For instance, what about the parents of the murdered guys? Where do they go to get justice for their murdered sons?” he asked.

“You see there’s no candidate that I would like to vote for. I hate each and every one. Everyone [running for president] is out for their own good, no one is going to help the country develop. Neither is any citizen going to get benefits,” he added.

Some Maldivians are planning to vote if the elections continue on to a second round, but say they do not think it is necessary to vote in the first round.

“MDP has so many supporters they don’t need my vote. Ehburun! But if they don’t win in the first round, then I’ll vote in the second,” said a 25 year-old Male’ resident.

EC Hotline Help

The EC has stressed that they wish to hear any and all issues, concerns, or complaints voters may have in regard to the upcoming elections.

“We are here to listen and check into any problems,” said Thowfeek. “Anyone can call the EC regarding any problem, we currently have 12 lines and will increase the number of reception lines as demand increases.”

Currently. the EC hotline is staffed 8:00am to 8:00pm, however as elections day approaches the line hours will be extended, Thowfeek explained.

Maldivians can call or SMS to determine where they are registered to vote, which political party they are registered with, to report any problem or difficulties, and to seek any information.

The Elections Commission hotline is 1414.

The SMS codes for enquiries are as follows:

SMS PPR(space)(ID#) – current political party registration
SMS Voterinformationsystem(space)(ID#) – respective polling place location based on voter registration

Additionally, voter registration, including political party affiliation, can be verified in the Maldives’ government gazette.

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Deadline for voter re-registration to expire August 7

Voters registered for this year’s presidential election have one month left to notify the Election’s Commission (EC) of any change to their permanent residence on the official registry, or else face having to travel to that address to cast their ballot.

The deadline for eligible voters to re-register their current permanent residence on the registry will expire at 16:00pm on August 7 – a month to the day before polling is scheduled to take place.

Local NGO Transparency Maldives told Minivan News today that the process for re-registration was “pretty straightforward”, but vital to ensure that any voter expected to be in a different country or island on polling day would not have to travel potentially significant distances to cast their ballot.

Members of the public wishing to re-register are required to fill a form that can be downloaded here.

Once completed and signed, the form must be submitted at a specially designated area at several locations across the country.

These locations are:

  • Addu City – Addu City Council office
  • Male’ – EC office
  • Hulhumale’ – Gazee school common room
  • Vilimale’ – Fishermen Training Centre

For all other islands in the country, re-registration forms must be submitted to the local island council office.

According to Transparency Maldives, the completed re-registration form must be signed and submitted along with a copy of either a valid national ID card, a passport or license card with a photo. The original form of ID must also be shown when submitting the form, according to EC requirements.

For anyone wishing to re-register for another person, the EC requires the signed form to be submitted with both the voter’s own valid ID, as well as a copy of the ID of the individual submitting the form on their behalf.

Re-registration process

Transparency Maldives told Minivan News in May that the issue of voters wishing to re-register their permanent place of residence with the EC had been a key concern in the build up to September’s election.

Taking the case of a Maldives national living abroad in Malaysia or Sri Lanka, the NGO previously said that unless a voter re-registered their details with the EC to use a ballot box in that country, they would need to return to their place of permanent residence on polling day.

Transparency Maldives has said that the EC had since been travelling to islands across the country to try and raise awareness over the issue, which reflected what it claimed were “progressive improvements” in the commission’s work to keep voters informed.

Transparency Project Director Aiman Rasheed today said that re-registration had been a “huge issue” during the 2008 presidential election – the first multi-party democratic poll ever held in the Maldives at the time.

However, Rasheed expressed optimism that the EC had this year been given much more time to clean up and amend errors and out of date information in the present voter registry.

“After the constitution was passed in August 2008, there was a truncated period of time before voting was able to take place,” he said, referring to voting that took place just two months later in October of the same year.

Rasheed added that having since held several democratic elections, including voting on local councils back in February 2011, the EC had since had a lot of experience in updating the voter registry.

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Elections Commission reduces number of ballot boxes, increases polling station personnel

The Maldives Elections Commission has reduced the number of ballot boxes to be provided for the presidential elections by 97, partly in response to resort and staff requests, but also to improve speed and efficiency by increasing the number of voting booths, officials and vote counters at each location.

A total of 459 ballot boxes – reduced from the 556 initially announced – will be required for the September 7 presidential elections, Elections Commission (EC) President Fuwad Thowfeek told Minivan News today (July 2).

“Our earlier prediction was that we’d have to place about 100 ballot boxes to cover the resorts,” said Thowfeek. “But we’ve now decided to place ballot boxes in just 56 resorts because some of them do not want boxes placed on their islands.”

“As an alternative, we’ll place boxes in the islands closest inhabited island and they’ll send their employees [to vote],” he continued.

“Resorts cannot stop their staff from going [to vote] because we have an understanding, an arrangement with them,” he declared. “If they try to stop [their employees from voting] we will take the necessary actions [against them].”

The EC will also place ballot boxes in foreign countries that have a “sizable” Maldivian population, with locations to include: Colombo, Sri Lanka; Trivandrum and New Delhi in India; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Singapore; and London, UK.

“In placing ballot boxes abroad, we’ve considered places where a minimum of 100 people are predicted to register. We’ll open for registrations tomorrow. A total of six boxes will be placed in five countries,” noted Thowfeek.

The EC also plans to place 284 ballot boxes on all inhabited islands, while five boxes will be placed on five different commercial islands, said Thowfeek.

Additionally, all prisons and detention centers will have ballot boxes, five to be placed in each of the five different detention facilities. Male’ will have 103 ballot boxes total, with 48 for Male’ inhabitants and 55 for residents from the islands.

The previous EC estimate of 556 ballot boxes needed would have provided an additional 100 compared to the 2008 presidential election, however now the numbers are nearly on par.

“We thought to include more ballot boxes in Male’ also, however after a lot of work and discussion the EC thought this might not be the proper time to redistribute the ballot areas,” said Thowfeek.

“We want to facilitate voting and the concern was if we split the assigned ballot box areas, people might find it more difficult to understand where the new polling places are,” he continued.

Thus, ballot boxes will remain in the same areas as during the 2011 local council elections.

“Instead of increasing the number of ballot boxes or polling areas, we decided to increase the number of voting booths, officials and vote counters,” said Thowfeek. “This will increase the speed and efficiency.”

“Whereas previously there were seven officials per ballot box, now there are 11, where there was one voting table now there are two, and now there will be two to three booths instead of just one,” he explained. “However, where there is a population of 700 or less seven elections officials will still be present.”

“In addition to the ballot box, there will be EC staff, observers and officers at all polling places,” he noted.

“Voter registration is available from July 1 to August 7,” Thowfeek added.

Resort staff voting

Although the EC’s first assumption was that each resort would need a ballot box, this has been revised based on requests from resorts and Maldivian resort staff.

“The EC decided to do the most appropriate and problem-free thing that will work best for resort staff and the resorts,” Thowfeek stated.

“It’s not that the resorts are not allowing ballot boxes, they have requested the EC to not keep it on their islands. Instead they will be sending their staff to nearby inhabited islands,” he continued.

“It is their preference, it’s more comfortable so the resort is not disturbed by the activity of the day,” he explained. “They will provide the transportation and make all the arrangements, like splitting their staff into groups. When one group goes [to vote], another will come [back to the resort].”

“Resort management has already informed the EC as to the nearest inhabited island to which they will be sending their staff to vote,” Thowfeek continued.

“[Additionally] some resort staff feel more comfortable going to the next island because some staff say if the ballot box is kept on the resort island they are concerned their management might know who voted for certain candidates,” he said.

“In the past this [arrangement] was made for the local council elections,” he added.

While this agreement was made with understanding that resorts will honor their pledges to allow Maldivian staff to vote, other logistical complications that may hamper voters on election day have also been addressed.

“If poor weather conditions affect transportation on the day of elections, the EC members will decide steps to allow resort staff to vote,” said Thowfeek. “If such a thing happens – weather or any other unexpected events – we will see what we can do to find a solution.”

EC Hotline Help

The EC has stressed that they wish to hear any and all issues, concerns, or complaints voters may have in regard to the upcoming elections.

“We are here to listen and check into any problems,” said Thowfeek. “Anyone can call the EC regarding any problem, we currently have 12 lines and will increase the number of reception lines as demand increases.”

Currently the EC hotline is staffed 8:00am to 8:00pm, however as elections day approaches the line hours will be extended, Thowfeek explained.

Maldivians can call or SMS to determine where they are registered to vote, which political party they are registered with, to report any problem or difficulties, and to seek any information.

The Elections Commission hotline is 1414.

The SMS codes for enquiries are as follows:

SMS PPR(space)(ID#) – current political party registration
SMS Voterinformationsystem(space)(ID#) – respective polling place location based on voter registration

Additionally, voter registration, including political party affiliation, can be verified in the Maldives’ government gazette.

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