The Elections Commission (EC) has decided to extend voting hours until 5:00 p.m. today for the ongoing local council, Women’s Development Committee (WDC) elections and public referendum, citing long queues and hot weather conditions.

According to the Commission, 131,947 people had cast their ballots by 2:00 p.m., representing a turnout of 44.75 per cent. Of those who voted, 63,175 were women and 68,772 were men, while 162,929 eligible voters had yet to cast their ballots out of a total electorate of 294,876.

The EC stated that no new voters will be allowed to join queues after 5:00 p.m., with ballot boxes to be closed once all voters already in line have cast their votes. Vote counting is scheduled to begin 30 minutes after polling concludes.

Speaking to MMTV earlier, Elections Commission President Mohamed Zahid said voting has been proceeding smoothly across the country, with only minor complaints reported, mainly related to long queues and heat at certain polling stations. He added that a reported incident of unrest in one island did not affect the validity of the vote and that no issues have occurred that would impact the overall conduct of the elections.

Zahid also noted that as three processes are being held simultaneously, voters are issued separate ballot papers and guided on the respective ballot boxes for submission.

A total of 588 ballot boxes have been placed across the country for the elections, with three ballot boxes allocated per polling station for the local council elections, WDC elections and the public referendum.