MDP maintains lead over PNC after recount of Veyvah Council seat
The Elections Commission has confirmed that MDP candidate Ahushan Naeem remains the winner of the M. Veyvah Council election following a recount. Although a recount triggered by complaints regarding invalid ballots resulted in a slight adjustment to the total vote counts for the candidates, the overall outcome remained unchanged. The Commission has announced that the official permanent results of the election will be formally declared this Saturday.
Recounting of votes underway for M. Veyvah. | PSM | PSM
The Elections Commission has announced that the results of the M. Veyvah Council election remain unchanged following a recount of the votes.
Two candidates contested for a seat on the Veyvah Council in the local council by-election held on the fourth of this month. The candidates were Mohamed Nazeeh, representing the ruling People's National Congress (PNC), and Ahushan Naeem, representing the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
According to the provisional results previously released by the Elections Commission, Ahushan Naeem received 122 votes, while Mohamed Nazeeh secured 120 votes. A recount was initiated following a complaint filed with the Compliance Bureau, which contended that the final outcome remained uncertain due to issues surrounding invalidated ballots.
Although the vote recount resulted in both candidates losing one vote each from their initial totals, the overall outcome of the election remains unchanged. According to the recounted results, the PNC candidate secured 83 votes, while the MDP candidate received 76 votes.
The Elections Commission has reported that the invalidation of votes from this ballot box was due to several factors, including additional markings or drawings on the ballot papers beyond the required mark. Other reasons cited include voters selecting more candidates than permitted or failing to mark a choice for any candidate.
Out of the 256 individuals eligible to vote in the Veyvah Council election, 247 cast their ballots. According to the current provisional results, seven votes were declared invalid.
The Elections Commission has announced that provisional results for the majority of ballot boxes have now been finalized. The only results currently pending are for those boxes requiring a recount due to formal complaints. It is noted that over 290,000 people cast their votes in this election.
The Elections Commission has announced that the final results, including the tallies from these ballot boxes, will be disclosed during a press conference scheduled for Saturday.
