News Desk
Voting is under way across the Maldives for the local council and women’s development committee elections, with polling starting at different times this morning.
Although stations were scheduled to open at 8am, early turnout was thin, with only small queues reported. The Election Commission later confirmed that voting in all 588 polling stations began at 9.30am.
A commission official said the delays were caused by the absence of the two members of the public required to be present before polling can start. “The polling stations that have not started are those where the two members of the public required to start polling are not present,” the official said.
Polling will continue until 4pm.
A total of 2,961 candidates are contesting today’s elections, including 1,593 for local councils and 1,368 for women’s development committees. The ruling PNC has fielded the most candidates with 1,322. The MDP follows with 905, while the MDA has 57, JP 15, AP nine and The Democrats eight. There are 645 independent candidates in the two elections.
According to the commission, 294,876 people are eligible to vote, including 144,506 women and 150,370 men.
A total of 588 ballot boxes have been set up nationwide, including 347 in the islands. Each election requires a separate ballot paper, and three boxes have been placed at every station. Voters may request one, two or all three papers depending on their preference. Officials will announce the choice and issue the relevant ballot papers accordingly.
For the three ballots, 888,845 papers were printed: 297,959 for local councils, 292,706 for women’s development committees and 298,180 for the referendum.
The day is expected to remain steady as voters continue to head to the polls, with officials urging the public to cast their ballots before closing time.
