Supreme Court election case: Court hears six more witnesses

The Supreme Court has heard statements by six witnesses presented by Jumhooree Party (JP).

Testimonies were also presented by three witnesses yesterday.

Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain said at today’s session that JP had presented 20 witnesses, and that the Supreme Court bench had decided to hear all 20 witnesses.

Today’s first witness said that his younger sibling lives in Malaysia and did not register to vote, but he was told by an official of the Elections Commission that someone had voted in his sibling’s name in the Maldives.

The second witness said that he was not able to register to vote because his actual identity card number did not match his identity card number in the Elections Commission’s records. He said that he was not allowed to vote even after he presented an official document from the Department of National Registration in relation to this matter.

An official of the Elections Commission told Sun Online that the commission had decided to allow people whose identity card numbers do not match to vote, if their names, addresses and photos match the commission’s records.

The third witness was a police officer who maintained security at a distance from a ballot box. He said that after the voting was concluded, he witnessed ballot papers being put into an empty cardboard box instead of envelopes, and the box being taken to the Elections Commission in a car.

The fourth witness was an official of the Elections Commission who worked at a ballot box in Male’. He said that he did not vote in the first round of the election, but when he called the Elections Commission to register for the second round, he was told that someone had voted in his name at a ballot box in Male’.

He said that he filed a complaint and requested to view the voters’ registration form submitted under his name, but the Elections Commission failed to respond to this request.

The fifth witness said that when he arrived at the ballot station, his name on the voters’ list was already marked as someone who had voted, and when he asked the Elections Commission officials about this, he was told that his name was marked by mistake.

He said that the officials noted down his identity card number and allowed him to vote. He noted that the officials did not check whether he had the ‘voted’ mark on his finger.

The sixth witness, from Addu City, said that votes were cast by two people registered under his house, and that no one in the family had any knowledge of these two people being registered under their house. He further said that his sister voted in Male’, but her name also appeared on the voters’ list at the ballot box designated for members of their house in Hithadhoo, Addu City.

Three witnesses presented by the Elections Commission also testified in court today.