The Department of National Registration (DNR) has temporarily halted renewing National ID cards for citizens that have their information changed.

In a notice on Monday, the department stated that, since the voters list has been sent to the Elections Commission, they will not be renewing ID cards in order not to let any obstruction stand in the way from Maldivians voting.

The department will begin renewing ID cards after the end of September’s presidential election.

In a previous notice, the department stated that it will not take responsibility if any citizens were unable to vote after they make changes to their ID card information after registering to vote.

Many citizens have been registering to Male’ and changing their ID card information accordingly after the government opened up the capital city’s registry.

The housing ministry has stated that even if citizens re-register to Male’, they will not have to change their ID card information before September’s election and that the ministry will give slips to people that register for the first time that will allow them to submit their application forms for apartments under the government’s social housing scheme.

The Elections Commission opened the opportunity to re-register after finalizing the voters list.