Veyvah Council seat dispute reaches Supreme Court
Both the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and its candidate, Ahsan, have appealed to the Supreme Court following a High Court ruling that invalidated three votes cast in his favor during the M. Veyvah Council election.
Recounting of votes underway for M. Veyvah. | PSM
The case regarding the M. Vevah Council seat, which was awarded to a PNC candidate following a High Court ruling that nullified the initial victory of an MDP member, has been appealed to the Supreme Court.
In the last local council elections, MDP candidate Ahsan Naeem secured one of the two general seats on the Veyvah Council by a narrow margin of just two votes. A case has since been filed in the High Court of the Maldives challenging the results of the ballot box stationed in Veyvah during the election. The legal challenge was submitted by the PNC candidate, following the initial victory of the MDP candidate for the constituency seat.
The dispute in this matter stems from the determination of invalid votes. During the Election Commission's (EC) recount, these votes were deemed valid at the counting center. The EC accepted the ballots as valid after concluding that the marks in question were caused by ink bleeding during the printing process. There were three such ballots. The EC reached this decision based on the fact that blue pens were provided for voting, whereas the spots on the paper were black and smaller than a pen tip.
While Ahsan secured 121 votes compared to the 119 votes received by PNC candidate Mohamed Nazeeh, the High Court's ruling has overturned the initial result, awarding the seat to the PNC.
High Court Judge Mohamed Shaneez stated that the law explicitly prohibits any markings or symbols on a ballot paper, noting that the presence of such identifiers compromises the secrecy of the vote.
The High Court reached a verdict on the case amid a split opinion among the presiding judges. The bench ultimately decided to invalidate three disputed ballots cast in the election. All three invalidated votes had been cast in favor of the MDP candidate. With these votes nullified, the MDP candidate’s total decreased from 121 to 118. Consequently, the PNC candidate was declared the winner of the election with 119 votes.
The decision was challenged in the Supreme Court by both the MDP and Ahsan.
