10,000 eligible voters granted the right to vote through Supreme Court order: Lawyer Zaneen

Lawyer Ahmed Zaneen Adam has said that the Supreme Court’s order upon the Elections Commission to ensure that the upcoming presidential election is fair has made it possible for more than 10,000 eligible voters to cast their vote.

The local lawyer filed a case regarding the presidential elections with the Supreme Court, highlighting concerns regarding the Elections Commission’s preparations and asking the court to order them to address such concerns.

Speaking to the press inside the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) office yesterday, Zaneen said that the Supreme Court order proves that the Elections Commission had neglected to include many of the eligible voters registered in Male’ Dhaftharu (Male’ special registry) and that those names have now been included in the final electoral register, without the individuals having to go through the re-registration process.

He said that the 10,000 eligible voters were excluded from the electoral register through negligence of the Elections Commission and that it is the responsibility of the Commission to ensure that all eligible voters are included. It is not an issue that should have to be rectified through a complaint, Zaneen said.

He said a number of citizens have been granted their right to vote, through the Supreme Court order.

“[The Elections Commission] grants a period to submit complaints to ensure that if a name has been excluded by mistake. Elections Commission has said that the person will not be able to vote if he does not submit a complaint within that period. If this happens, we have to submit the matter to High Court. Individuals have to submit the issue to High Court. But this order has permanently solved the issues of the voters who would not have been able to vote because their names were excluded or because their addresses do not match,” Zaneen said.