Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM) has said it is considering to change the voting based on the resident populations in a constituency instead of voting based on population registered at a constituency.
Speaking at the National Advisory Committee on allocating constituencies of people registered in Male' Dhaftharu, President of ECM Ahmed Shareef said the electoral body is considering a move that requires residents of a constituency to vote rather than the current practice of voting based on a registered population. He said while the commission is currently carrying relevant research, the move shall only take place in the 2025 Local Council Elections.
Shareef said the population registered in Male' Dhaftharu does not belong to a block or an area like the other population registered in Male' City. He said the people registered in Dhaftharu will be allocated to different constituencies based on the order of registry. He revealed a total of 9,697 registered will vote in 18 constituencies, allocating about 535 votes for each constituency.
The head of the electoral body also addressed concerns from political parties as the people registered in Dhaftharu is allocated differently for every election, stating the newly proposed practice shall stay for the upcoming elections as well. Shareef further discussed challenges faced due to inconsistencies in the registry. He highlighted the registry sometimes allocates more than one number for an individual saying it creates issues in finalising the voter's list.
Hence, Shareef called Male' City Council and the Department of National Registration (DNR) to sort the inconsistencies in the registry. ECM uses the DNR registry as the source in preparing voter's lists.