MDP submits 2,000 voter list complaints

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party submitted Wednesday night nearly 2,000 complaints about the voter list for September’s presidential election.

The complaints were lodged en masse with the Elections Commission shortly before the submission deadline expired at 10:30 pm.

Some 1,449 people on the list were below voting age, 412 were deceased, 76 names were repeated, 12 people were missing from the list, six voters were under the wrong address, and two names were misspelt, MDP found.

Citing the lack of national identity card numbers as the main issue, MDP declared it does not accept the present list as valid. The 263,181 voters cannot be sure their ID numbers are correct or match with their name and address, it added.

The EC has said it will respond to complaints within five days, after which its decisions can be challenged at the High Court.

The list was compiled based on information from the Department of National Registration.

Names missing from voter lists was among concerns raised over the voting process during last year’s municipal elections.

The first round of the presidential election is due on September 23 amid fierce criticism of the commission’s independence and uncertainty over opposition candidates.

Adam Shareef, the president of the five-member commission, is a loyalist of President Abdulla Yameen who was involved in his re-election campaign prior to his appointment.

With opposition leaders barred from contesting, most Maldivians do not believe there will be a free and fair election this year.