MP Mariya Didi calls for search of ruling party offices over voter information

A thorough investigation into how the ruling party acquires information on voters needs to be carried out, and their offices need to be searched, says MP Mariya Ahmed Didi.

The opposition aligned lawmaker said this while speaking at a press conference on Saturday, adding that details of the lives and families of voters is well known to incumbent President Abdulla Yameen’s campaign team.

Further, she said that administrative details that only the Elections Commission has access to, such as whether or not an individual has registered to vote, is known to the ruling party – who use this when contacting voters in their re-election bid.

The lawmaker also claimed that re-registration forms, submitted by individuals voting outside their native islands, cannot be rejected on the basis of ‘fingerprint discrepancies’.

“Voting is a right. These forms have contact numbers and witness details on them. They could have been contacted instead of having their forms rejected on the basis of fingerprint discrepancies’, Mariya said.

Voters who have had their re-registration forms rejected have been asked to file them again. They have been given a three-day window between Monday to Wednesday next week, 27th to 29th August.

The commission has rejected a total of 5,626 forms.