Elections Commission not considering E-voting

President of the Elections Commission (EC), Mohamed Zahid, stated today that the public trusts the current election system in the Maldives and that the commission is not considering a move to e-voting, even though it might reduce costs.

During a meeting of the Parliament's Budget Review Committee regarding the EC's budget for the coming year, many members raised questions about reducing the costs of holding elections.

In this context, the Member for Central Hithadhoo, PNC's Ahmed Azan Marzooq, asked if the commission had any plans to introduce e-voting in the Maldives, following the practice of some other countries.

Responding to the question, Zahid stated that the most crucial element of any election is maintaining public confidence in the process. He asserted that the public currently has faith in the system used to conduct elections in the Maldives and that he does not believe the environment is suitable for changing the system at this time.

"I must apologize and state that the EC is not considering e-voting in any way. We do not believe the environment is currently suitable for moving to e-voting in the Maldives," Zahid said.

He added that even if the law were amended to mandate a change in the system, it would be extremely difficult to implement.

Zahid did, however, suggest that if e-voting were to be pursued in the future, the easiest and fastest way would be for the EC to work in collaboration with political parties. He explained that working with political parties would make it easier to build public trust.