Re-registration numbers hit 45,000

About 45,000 people have re-registered to vote outside their island of permanent residence, the Elections Commission said Tuesday.

It said SMS messages will be sent to confirm the re-registration and notify people about where they should cast their votes.

Re-registration forms were sent to the police for fingerprint verification and if a form is declared invalid, the person who submitted the form will be told, the EC said.

“If the form was submitted personally, then that person will be directly informed. If it was submitted in bulk, the person who submitted the forms in bulk will be informed,” EC member Ahmed Akram told Mihaaru.

The deadline for submitting re-registration forms is Saturday and the EC gives three days for re-registration if the form is invalid.

The joint opposition and the ruling party have accused each other of trying to disenfranchise voters through the re-registration process.

More than 62,000 voters re-registered for the 2014 parliamentary elections.

About 263,000 people are eligible to vote in the September 23 presidential election and almost 500 ballots boxes will be kept across the country and abroad.

Photo: elections.gov.mv