The Elections Commission says only blue or black pens can be used on the ballot paper in Saturday's Presidential Election and that if other color of ink is used, the ballot would be deemed invalid.
At a press conference held to brief reporters about the Commission's latest preparations ahead of the Election, Vice President of the Commission Ismail Habeeb said that the Commission met with the Election Advisory Committee last Saturday and that the Commission has taken decisions based on recommendations made by the Political parties.
Before detailing these decisions, Habeeb said that it was the Commission's responsibility to ensure that the Election proceeds in a fair and transparent manner and that it would work to achieve its responsibilities.
Habeeb further said that the Commission took three decisions to maintain the secrecy of the ballot.
He said that the Commission would only accept blue or black colored pens for voting. He said that political parties reported to the Election Advisory Committee that some are working to use a certain color pen for voting.
Habeeb said that the law states that voting must be done in a normal pen and that the Commission has now decided what a 'normal' pen would be during the election.
He further said that no other colored pens can be used for voting and that individuals cannot bring in other colored pens into the voting center if they intend to use the pens for voting.
Habeeb said that each voter must put only one checkmark on the square next to their preferred candidate and that ballot papers with more than one checkmark would be considered invalid. He said that this was because each voter must cast their votes free of influence and of their own accord.
As the third decision, Habeeb said that in this election, the voter would give his/her back to the officials as there would be less chance of voters taking pictures of the ballot paper and also swapping ballot papers during the voting.
