Police said on Saturday, September 2 that officers responsible for maintaining security at polling stations on September 9 will be equipped with body cameras.

Superintendent of Police Ahmed Muslim, who is also the Deputy Commander of the presidential election, said that to ensure the police services are utilized to their best capabilities, they will be using body cameras during this election.

"While this operation is in progress, our officers will utilize the body-worn cameras that they have been using in frontline operations," Muslim stated.

Police started wearing body cameras last year.

He said that they had already informed the Election Commission (EC) about the use of body-worn cameras by police officers at polling stations for this election, emphasising that this was carried out in accordance with the laws governing both the police force and the EC.

During a press conference held on Friday, Chief Superintended of Police Ahmed Shakir said some of the campaign banners hung on the roads block some of the security cameras on the roads. They said within the next two days they will be taking done the banners that block their views.

Shakir said that the police force is fully prepared to ensure security during the upcoming election. They have already deployed officers to the islands to uphold security measures. Furthermore, they intend to hold meetings with the candidates' representatives to discuss campaign rallies and walks scheduled for the final 72 hours leading up to the election.

He said that in previous elections, people have lined up the night before as soon as campaigning ends and they have adviced the representatives to not encourage these acts.

“We are prepared for everything in this election and all the possibilities that may happen,” Shakir said.

According to Shakir, at the request of EC, 31 individuals and 130 international observers are participating in the election.

Police has also denied allegations made by Progressive Party of Maldives and People's National Congress (PPM/PNC) Coalition accusing that police officers were being sent to locations where they were not registered to vote on election day, allegedly with the intention to deprive them of their voting rights.

Spokesperson for the presidential candidate for PPM and PNC Mohamed Tholal said during a press conference held on Friday that the government have been stationing police and military officers in locations other than the island they had registered to vote at, claiming this is done to prevent them from voting.

However, the police said today that the allegations suggesting that the deployment of police officers to ensure election security is aimed at denying them the right to vote are false.

According to the police, the deployment of individual officers had been planned well in advance, and they were registered at the appropriate locations to ensure their ability to vote.

The election will be held next Saturday, September 9.