Ballots will be marked with a special stamp: EC

The Elections Commission (EC) has stated that all ballots to be used in the Local Council and Women's Development Committee (WDC) Elections on 10 April 2021 will be marked with a special stamp, and will be issued with security features to prevent voter fraud.

Member of the Elections Commission Fuad Thaufeeq confirmed this in an appearance on Raajje TV's "Fala Surukhee" programme, detailing that the ballots to be used in the upcoming elections will be marked with a special stamp in order to strengthen the security features of the ballot paper. EC member Fuad revealed that this was a specialized stamp created to use in the Local Council and WDC Elections of 2021, and that it had not been used by the commission on ballot papers in the past. Fuad went on to affirm that the ballots would be inclusive of other security features as well, but declined to detail them at the interview. However, Fuad confirmed that the stamp on ballot papers would be the first thing to be assessed to determine the authenticity of votes cast in the elections.

EC member Fuad Thaufeeq also confirmed that all the ballots had been printed, and that work was now underway to pack up the ballots in order to transport them to islands. In addition to this, Fuad revealed that all the ballots to be used in the upcoming elections had been printed in the Maldives, and assured that there would be no unnecessary writings or illustrations on the ballots.

Highlighting earlier concerns of the Elections Commission using a special pen with ink that could be erased, Fuad remarked that all citizens could use their own pens to cast their votes in the Local Council and WDC Elections of 2021.

EC member Fuad went on to confirm that all of the elections procedures would go according to the current timeline, and that candidates would have the opportunity to sign on voters lists until 10:30pm on Friday.

Those in quarantine and positive for Covid-19 in the Maldives will also have the opportunity to attend voting centers through set guidelines after 5pm on election day, and cast their votes with the assistance of a helper who is not positive for Covid-19 or in quarantine themselves.

In addition to this, Fuad Thaufeeq revealed that interim results of the elections will likely be available around 8pm on 10 April 2021. Fuad revealed that once the voting centers had confirmed results, they would be available for the public through the Elections Commission website as well.

Fuad expressed hopes that most vote centers would close around 5pm on election day, as unlike other elections, more vote boxes would be stationed in light of Covid-19, with upwards of 500 people voting for each ballot box.

EC member Fuad Thaufeeq also revealed that any complaints can be submitted to the Elections Commission via the required forms, and that complaints on the day of elections could be taken up with the EC official in charge of the ballot box, at which point it would be reviewed by the commission's compliance bureau.

The Elections Commission has previously announced that only pens with blue and black ink can be used in casting votes in the Local Council and Women's Development Committee Elections, scheduled to be held on 10 April 2021.

The elections are being conducted at a time the Maldives is experiencing a widespread third wave of the global Covid-19 pandemic, with restrictions placed across the nation's capital and Covid-19 epicenter Male' also being eased by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) ahead of the vote. According to the latest statistics published by the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC), a record of 300 new Covid-19 cases were detected in the Maldives between Wednesday and Thursday, pushing the number of active Covid-19 cases across the country past the 3,000-mark. As of now, there are 800 active cases of Covid-19 outside of the Greater Male' area, with 17 inhabited islands placed under monitoring, and huge Covid-19 infection clusters detected from islands reserved for industrial use.