Global Initiative to Enfranchise People with Disabilities: Maldives - www.electionaccess.org Text Only Version
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Maldives

General Right to Vote
Constitution:
(1998)
• See Section 134

Exclusion Based on Mental Disability
Constitution:
(1998)
• Section 34 states: "A person shall be qualified to be elected as President if he…(d) is of sound mind…"
• Section 56 states: " person shall be qualified to be appointed as a Minister or the Attorney General if he…(d) is of sound mind."
• Section 66 states: "A person shall be qualified to be a member of the People's Majlis if he…(d) is of sound mind…"
• Section 134 states: "A person shall be qualified to be a voter in elections and public referendums stipulated in the Constitution and the law if he…(d) is of sound mind."

Exclusion Based on Physical Disability
Constitution:
(1998)
• Section 66 states: "A person shall be qualified to be a member of the People's Majlis if he…(e) is capable of reading and writing Arabic and Dhivehi script and numerals…"

Voter Assistance by Other Citizens
Electoral Law:
(1998: Law on General Elections)
• Section 17 states: "(a)…Where the voter is unable to mark the ballot paper personally due to a physical disability, it shall be lawful for another person to assist such voter in marking the ballot paper. (b) No person shall participate in any manner in marking the ballot paper of another except as provided in subsection (a) of this section for a physically incapacitated person to procure the assistance of another. (c) No person shall, in an election, assist more than one physically incapacitated voter in marking the ballot paper in accordance with subsection (a) of this section. (d) No person appointed to a polling station by the authority conducting the elections and no candidate in the elections shall assist any voter in marking a ballot."
(1998: Regulations on Presidential Elections)
• Section 29 states: "The following particulars as regards persons physically incapacitated to place the mark on the ballot paper in person and the persons brought by such incapacitated persons to assist them in placing the mark on the ballot paper shall be recorded by persons at the table from which matters relating to polling are supervised in the paper printed and assigned for the purpose. (a) Name, permanent address and age of the incapacitated person. (b) The number given to his residence. (c) Full name, permanent address and age of the person who assisted the incapacitated person in placing the mark on the ballot paper."

 
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