Voting fails to commence at all centers despite 8:00 AM scheduled start for three elections; turnout remains low

Voting for three highly anticipated elections was scheduled to begin at 8:00 AM; however, polling failed to commence at all centers on time, and initial voter turnout remains low.

Polling for Saturday's Local Council and Women's Development Committee elections, along with the referendum, commenced at 8:00 a.m. However, as of 9:15 a.m., voting had yet to begin at several polling stations.

However, the Elections Commission (EC) confirmed that voting had commenced at all polling stations by 9:30 a.m. The EC stated that delays occurred only at centers where the two required members of the public were not present to witness the opening of the polls.

Voting for the three elections will continue until 4:00 p.m. today, with 588 polling stations established across the Maldives.

According to the Elections Commission, a total of 294,937 individuals are eligible to vote.

Each voter will be issued three ballot papers for the election. Each ballot must be cast into the specific box designated for that particular election.

Three types of ballot papers have been printed for the upcoming elections.

A total of 297,959 ballot papers have been printed for the local council elections, while 292,706 ballots were printed for the Women's Development Committee elections. Additionally, 298,180 ballot papers have been printed for the referendum.

The Elections Commission has announced that a total of 888,845 ballot papers have been printed for these elections.