Voting hours have been extended until 5:00 p.m. due to high temperatures and long queues at polling stations, the Elections Commission of Maldives has announced.
As of 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, a total of 131,947 people had cast their ballots. This includes 63,175 women and 68,772 men.
According to the Elections Commission of Maldives, there are 294,876 eligible voters in total, with 162,929 yet to vote. The Commission has urged as many voters as possible to join queues before the extended closing time in order to exercise their right to vote.
Officials stated that no one will be permitted to join queues after 5:00 p.m. Polling stations will close once all voters already in line have completed voting.
The counting of votes is scheduled to begin 30 minutes after polling officially concludes.
A total of 588 polling stations have been established across the country. Each station is equipped with three ballot boxes, designated separately for the Local Council elections, Women’s Development Committee (WDC) elections, and the public opinion poll.