Cost of printing one ballot paper for this election is less than one Rufiyaa: Elections Commission

The Elections Commission has said that the cost of printing one ballot paper for the presidential election in September 2013 is below one Rufiyaa.

President of the Elections Commission Fuad Thaufeeg said that the cost of printing one ballot paper is much lower this time compared to other elections.

“For this election, the cost of printing one ballot paper is about 90 laari. This is a large reduction compared to previous elections. We have sometimes had to spend MVR 20 per ballot paper, and for the most recent local council election, MVR 12 per ballot paper,” he said.

The commission did not reveal the party to which the printing of ballot papers has been commissioned. They said that the cost proposed for printing a ballot paper book consisting of 25 pages, was MVR 21.

Fuad said that efforts are ongoing to send the ballot papers for printing next week, and that one ballot paper each for the 239,593 eligible voters, plus one percent of this figure, will be printed.

The commission estimates a total cost of MVR 218,000 for printing ballot papers for the presidential election.