The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) states political parties have the biggest responsibility to confirm the validity of their membership forms.
Speaking to PSM News, President of ECM Fuad Thaufeeq said the electoral body receives numerous membership forms and that 25,000 of the forms have yet to be confirmed. Fuad said every political party requests the ECM to confirm their own membership forms as soon as possible.
However, Fuad said parties also have a responsibility to confirm the validity of their own membership forms by checking the signatures and fingerprints. He also said ECM faces difficulty in checking the validity of fingerprints on the forms as there is currently no method to confirming fingerprints but added the government is working on a solution. He further said errors in membership forms are expected even after they are entered into the database and that members have the opportunity to rectify any error with the relevant authority.
The Political Parties Act requires registered parties to submit membership forms and resignation forms to the ECM.