666 NUMBER REMOVED FROM

2018 GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT PAPER

The number 666, which Christians believe is the “mark of the beast” or the Devil or Satan, will not be part of the candidate numbers for the 2018 general election. Electoral Commission chairman Suresh Chandra has announced in an advertisement on page 5 today that the number has been removed from the ballot paper. The decision was made after the commission held a meeting on January 18, following consultation with all registered political parties.

Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem said the ballot numbers would go from 508 to 665 and then it would go from 667 to wherever it finished.

He said they had not given any particular religious connotation about the number. But it is understood that some people with a Christian background had objected to the number because they did not feel comfortable with it.

In the New Testament of the Holy Bible, in The Revelation of St John the Divine, John, the apostle sees fierce-looking beasts that represent degenerate earthly kingdoms controlled by Satan or the Devil who works miracles and deceives people.

The Devil’s mark is 666, it says this in Chapter 13 verse 18 in The Revelation, the last book of the New Testament. Verse 18 reads: “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred three score and six.”