People whose names are not on the list cannot vote in the Election: Fuad

President of Elections Commission Fuad Thaufeeg has said that people whose names are not on the registry of voters, currently being prepared by the commission, will not have the opportunity to vote in the upcoming Presidential Election.

Speaking at today’s session of the series of press conferences held by the Elections Commission to provide information on the commission’s preparations for the Presidential Election, Fuad urged people to check that their names are on the list of voters.

“We greatly urge people to check that their names and correct addresses are on the voters’ list. If not, they should inform us without delay,” he said.

Fuad said that the public will be given an additional opportunity to submit complaints when the list of voters is announced by the commission. He said that failure to file a complaint during this period would mean that, if a person’s name is not on the list, he would not be given another chance when it comes to registering to vote from a different location.

“Later when the registration is opened for voting from a person’s location at the time of voting, people who do not have their names on the list would not be given a second chance. That would only be an opportunity to transfer your name to your present location. No opportunity will be given to add names that are not there. A lot of people are confused about this, so I thought I would mention,” Fuad said.

Fuad said that complaints about missing names at the last minute after people go to vote will not be entertained, and urged people to pay attention to this issue and ensure in advance that their names are on the list.

He said that replies to the complaints about the registry of people who have the right to vote are currently being sent by post, and that a team from the Registration Section are planned to depart to Addu on 12 April to revise the voters’ registry.

Fuad also informed that people who wish to vote in the By-Election scheduled for 4 May are welcome to re-register between 7 and 16 April.