Problems noted on election day 'not significant enough' to impact outcome: TM

Transparency Maldives, local anti-corruption NGO has on Thursday stated that the problems noted on election 'were not significant enough to impact the outcome of the election'.

Many observers and monitors from Transparency Maldives, which had worked independently to ensure the Presidential Election proceeds freely and fairly, had been active at polling stations in several regions of the nation on 23rd September.

Expressing concerns over the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives having requested the Elections Commission to delay announcing the final results of Sunday's polls following doubts, TM stated that there is absolutely no space for doubts in the Presidential polls of Sunday.

As such, TM took to twitter in the early hours of Thursday to write that the organization is concerned about “attempts to cast doubt on the election day processes". It added that although the pre-election environment was “marred by several issues”, the election day had proceeded smoothly and the problems noted by the organization did not pose significant enough to “impact the outcome of the election.”

While reports have surfaced that the ruling party is attempting to nullify the results of the Sunday ballots, alleged screenshots of messages sent to the Viber group of PPM’s Parliamentary Group by it’s leader Ahmed Nihan Hussain Manik, had been leaked on social media.

The messages read that there are discrepancies in the voter’s list, as such Nihan claimed that he has been receiving complaints that voters who registered to vote were included in lists for jurisdictions other than where they applied to.

Out of the 262,135 eligible voters, 233,877 had voted in this year’s Presidential polls which were held on the 23rd of September out of which opposition’s candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had taken the lead with 134,616 votes. President Yameen had lost his bid for re-election, following behind with just 96,132 votes.