Maldives’ electoral watchdog, the Elections Commission, says it has received over 21,000 applications for re-registration to vote in the upcoming parliamentary election. 

The commission received 21,203 applications to re-register. Voters who registered for last year’s presidential elections are not required to register unless voting from a different location. 

The commission said that the final voter’s registry can only be announced after the applications have been processed;  commission president Ahmed Shareef told the press that a bulk of these applications were submitted close to the deadline. 

A public consultation period will be given to the final voter’s registry before election day. 264,589 voters are currently eligible to vote in the upcoming ballots.

Over 300 candidates are contesting for 87 constituencies in the People’s Majlis election, slated for April 6th.