EC secretly planning to use tablet computers to collate election results: Maldives’ opposition

Maldives opposition has alleged that country’s elections commission is secretly planning to use tablet computers to collate election results from polling stations during Presidential polls scheduled for Sunday.

Joint opposition in a statement said leaked internal documents show that the Commission has been secretly planning to use the tablet computers for months, creating a new opportunity for vote rigging and fraud.

It said the elections act makes it clear that the results must be announced and published physically at each polling station, and those results then communicated to the central commission.

However, a leaked document explains to EC officials that they must enter the result of each polling station on the tablet computer and wait for a ‘printed confirmation’ before publicly announcing the result.

The opposition alleged that entering the votes on the tablets gives the EC an opportunity to change the results from each ballot box before they are publicly announced, to ensure a victory for President Abdullah Yameen. Mr. Yameen is seeking re-election against Joint opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.