Defence Minister and Spokesperson for MDP's Presidential Candidate Mariya Ahmed Didi says the Elections Commission had declared too many votes invalid in the first round of the election and that this can be filed at the Supreme Court.
The Elections Commission confirmed yesterday that a total of 4,835 invalid votes were counted after the polling last Saturday. There have been complaints that the Commission's standard for a valid vote was too strict this time around as it said that voters cannot double-ink the checkmark on the box near their desired candidate.
The Commission said that this rule was established to safeguard voter secrecy and that the validity of each ballot would be decided by the head of the polling station.
Speaking at the campaign rally last night, Minister Mariya said that older voters had doubled-ink their checkmarks to make sure that their marks were visible and that these votes were declared invalid.
Mariya went on to blast the Commission's arrangements for the polling day and said that even wheelchairs were not available for elderly voters and there were no seats to sit.
She went on to say that in previous elections voters above 65 years of age were given priority and that many with kidney diseases, and asthma conditions stood in the queue for hours and left without voting.
The Defence Minister said that even if there were so many invalid votes that warrants a case at the Supreme Court, MDP would not file the case at the top court.
She added that MDP would win the election in the run-off.
