Voter re-registration controversy: EC denies any wrongdoing, puts blame on political parties

Accusing political parties of creating confusion over voter re-registration, the Elections Commission has said that they will be seeking criminal charges against those parties.

Speaking at a ceremony held to draw candidate numbers for the two candidates running in the 2018 presidential elections on Saturday, Elections Commissioner Ahmed Shareef denied that the Commission has any part in the issues with re-registration, adding that all forms received have been entered into the system.

'Any confusion was created by political parties, or those that submitted forms to the Commission. You cannot put the blame on the Elections Commission', he added.

Noting that the delay in releasing the final voters with re-registration details is due to these issues, Shareef said that the Commission 'is investigating this' and that the findings will be disclosed next week.

While a number of re-registration forms were submitted by political parties, he noted that the Commission knows who submitted what and added that they will seek criminal charges against all involved in creating the confusion.

Furthermore, Shareef warned the media to be wary of spreading false information, adding that action will be taken against those that do so.