EC: Election will be held with or without signature on lists

Candidates or political parties refusing to sign off on voter’ lists isn’t a reason why an election cannot be held, the local council elections will be held at scheduled, says Elections Commission.

Opposition parties Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Jumhoory Party (JP) has refused to sign off on some of the voters’ lists citing discrepancies.

Citing guidelines issued by Supreme Court, member of EC, Ahmed Akram said a candidate or a political party refusing to sign a voters’ list was not a reason why an election cannot be held.

He said the local council elections will therefore be held on May 6, as scheduled.

A ruling issued by Supreme Court in 2014 says the voters’ lists need to be published, opened for amendments, and opened for candidates or their representatives to sign off on.

The ruling says that refusal by some candidates to sign off on voters’ lists wasn’t a reason why an election cannot be held.

MDP and JP have protested they were presented with different versions of voters’ lists, with some not containing the identity card numbers of voters.

Akram said the lists were fully compliant with Supreme Court guidelines.

He said candidates had been given sufficient time during which to sign the voters’ lists and that there was “no more time for that now.”