Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has stated another USD 2.7 million is needed to conduct the Local Council Elections (LCE) and Women’s Development Committee (WDCE) in accordance to HPA guidelines.
ECM has been provided with a budget of USD 3.2 million to conduct the LCE and WDCE this year. However, ECM has stated the elections cannot be held under the current budget while following HPA’s guidelines for the elections. As such, ECM has stated an additional USD 2.7 million is needed to conduct the elections in accordance to the guidelines.
ECM provided justification on why an additional budget is needed, highlighting the need to increase the number of ballot boxes and officials in order to carry out the elections as per HPA guidelines. As such, ECM noted the number of ballot boxes required for the election has increased from 532 to 735, including 68 in the Greater Male’ Region alone.ECM said over 8,000 officials are needed to conduct the elections.
Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts has decided to meet with members of ECM to discuss the issues related to the budget provided for the elections. The meeting is scheduled to be held this week.
The local council elections are currently scheduled to be held on April 10. The elections were postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.