Voting has commenced across the Maldives in the Local Council elections, Women’s Development Committee (WDC) elections, and a public referendum seeking public opinion on holding presidential and parliamentary elections on the same day.

The Elections Commission has established 588 polling stations nationwide for the vote. Of these, 347 centres have been set up across the atolls outside the Malé region.

A total of 1,592 candidates are contesting in the Local Council elections, while 1,368 candidates are competing in the WDC elections.

Official statistics show that 299,876 eligible voters are registered for the elections, including 144,506 women and 150,370 men.

In total, voters will elect representatives to 1,356 positions across 225 constituencies in the Local Council and WDC elections.

The Elections Commission has printed 888,845 ballot papers for the elections. This includes 297,959 ballots for the Local Council elections, 292,706 ballots for the WDC elections, and 298,180 ballots for the public referendum.

Following an intense and competitive campaign period, voting began today without any reported incidents or disruptions at polling stations nationwide, with no issues reported by relevant authorities so far.