Candidates were well represented at polling stations in the ongoing Presidential Election, says Transparency Maldives.

The anti-corruption watchdog publicized a press statement on the opening of polls for the 2023 Presidential Election on Saturday afternoon.

The anti-corruption watchdog revealed that they are assessing both the election-day proceedings and have monitored the larger electoral and political environment during the pre-election since May 2023, in observing the polls.

Noting that they’re observer network has a wide national coverage spanning capital Malé City as well as outlying atolls, resorts, industrial islands and prisons, as well as abroad in Colombo, Sri Lanka and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Transparency expressed gratitude to the over 400 observers and volunteers deployed across the island nation, for their dedication in observing and assisting in the election observation processes.

Transparency’s observations are carried out at ballot boxes which have been selected through a random sample and the results reported on their observations are generalizable to the entire country.

As such, Transparency Maldives observed that the opening procedure went well with all polling stations having opened by 9am at the latest, with 85.8 percent of polling stations having opened within the first 10 minutes of the required opening time.

Further, the statement goes on to read that nearly all polling station officials were in place at all polling stations and the materials required for voting were present, the ballot papers were counted and settled at all polling stations, and all ballot boxes were verified as empty at the start of the voting process.

Highlighting that all candidates were well represented at polling stations, Transparency revealed that three or more candidate/party observers were present at 89.5 percent of all observed polling stations.

The anti-corruption watchdog revealed that all polling booths that were observed, had at least one candidate or party observer present and 7.2 percent of polling booths had five or more party or candidate observers present.

As such, observers from the opposition coalition comprising of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the People’s National Congress (PNC), were present at 72 percent of the polling stations, with 71 percent and 34 percent of polling stations having observers from the ruling coalition comprising of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Adhaalath Party (AP) and the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) and the ruling party’s estranged leader Mohamed Nasheed’s ‘The Democrats’, respectively.

The anti-corruption watchdog also noted that officers of the Maldives Police Service (MPS) were active outside, at 96 percent of the polling stations they had observed, at the opening time.

In addition to this, the statement reads that observers concluded that the polling stations were set up to ensure a secret vote in the vast majority of cases at 97 percent which was less clear in about three percent of all cases observed.

Transparency Maldives will be keeping a close eye on these polling stations.

The anti-corruption watchdog went on to encourage all parties to maintain peace during the voting process and after the preliminary results are announced.

Eligible voters have also been encouraged to exercise their right to vote.

Transparency’s observers are to be present at polling stations during the processes of voting, vote counting, and the announcement of preliminary results as well.