Only pens with blue or black ink can be used for voting in next Saturday's presidential election, the Elections Commission (EC) said on Monday.
The law states that an "ordinary pen" must be used to mark the ballot paper, which the commission interpreted to mean blue or black ink pens, EC Vice President Ismail Habeeb explained at a press briefing.
"The decision that the commission made yesterday was concerning what an ordinary pen is. The commission is considering a blue or black pen as the ordinary pen. So pens of other colors cannot be taken inside the polling station," he said repeatedly.
Habeeb said the purpose of the change is to ensure fairness and lack of undue influence over voters as well as the secrecy of the ballot.
Ballot papers with more than one tick or checkmark will also be invalidated, Habeeb noted. Ballots with drawings or symbols will also be counted as invalid, he added.
"Everyone must put one checkmark near the name of the candidate they're voting for. If there's any other sign or drawing it will be considered invalid," he said.
In some cases, voters mark their ballots with symbols or drawings that compromise its legitimacy and secrecy under duress, Habeeb said.
"Sometimes some people are forced to do this. There won't be any compulsion for a voter. The commission won't allow anyone to do anything that could cause the loss of secrecy of the vote," Habeeb said.
Voting booths in the last local council elections were kept for the voter's face or front side to be visible as the ballot paper is marked. But the positioning of the booth will be changed for the presidential election, Habeeb said.
The change is intended to prevent voters from taking photos of the ballot or switching the ballot with a different paper, he said.
Some 282,392 people are eligible to vote in the presidential election, including 27,006 first time voters.
This year's election sees the highest number of candidates since the adoption of the new constitution in 2008. There were six candidates in 2008, four candidates in 2013 and two candidates in 2018.
