Quarantined persons, Covid-19 patients will vote after all others, required to bring a helper: EC
A helper, who is not quarantined or positive for Covid-19, must accompany them to the voting center
Officials take ballot boxes to stations during earlier elections
President of the Elections Commission (EC) Ahmed Shareef has stated that quarantined persons and Covid-19 patients will be permitted to vote after all others have cast their ballots in the Local Council and Women's Development Committee Elections, scheduled to be held on 10 April 2021.
Voting will proceed across the Maldives between 7am and 5pm on 10 April, which is a Saturday. EC will begin counting ballots 30 minutes after voting centers close.
In an exclusive interview with Raajje MV to detail the commission's final preparations for the elections, EC President Shareef stated that voting will take place for quarantined persons and those positive for Covid-19 on election day. He added that a specific regulation had not been made public, as they would need to adhere to the regulations implemented by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), such as wearing masks and maintaining social distancing while at voting centers.
However, EC President Shareef said that there were few procedures that quarantined persons and those positive for Covid-19 must follow when attending voting centers. As such, they must contact and inform elections officials of their Covid-19 status, which would be either quarantined or positive, and the specific time at which they would be attending the voting center. EC President Shareef also noted that elections officials will be taking extra precautionary measures following their arrival to ensure that they get to vote without compromising the health and safety of others at the voting center.
Quarantined persons and those positive for Covid-19 must also bring a helper with them to vote, who is not quarantined or positive for Covid-19, as those exposed to Covid-19 will not be permitted to touch the ballots themselves. In this case, the same voting procedure will be implemented, as for those with physical disabilities, where a helper will be responsible for collecting the ballot, placing the mark on the ballot and showing it to the voter to confirm their choice, before casting the vote into the ballot box.
In addition to this, EC President Shareef confirmed that voting will take place on islands under monitoring on 10 April 2021, with elections officials stationed at each island responsible for the ballot boxes and security features.
Voting for the Local Council and Women's Development Committee elections will take place with extra health and safety precautions in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. As such, more ballot boxes will be stationed at voting centers, with all those entering the center required to sanitize and mask effectively, in addition to observing social distancing and taking own pens with which to cast their votes.
