Voter turnout in the second round of the Local Council and Women’s Development Committee (WDC) elections held on Saturday reached 71 per cent, the Elections Commission has said.

The run-off elections were held across five constituencies to decide five positions. These included the council elections for Fuvahmulah City’s Dhadimagu constituency and Baa Dhonfan, as well as WDC elections in Haa Alifu Kelaa, Haa Dhaalu Neykurendhoo and Laamu Maavah.

The second round of voting was required after candidates in these constituencies received an equal number of votes in the initial round.

A total of 6,093 voters were registered for the run-off. Of these, 1,729 were registered in Kelaa, 1,056 in Neykurendhoo, 441 in Dhonfan, 1,556 in Maavah, and 1,311 in the Dhadimagu constituency of Fuvahmulah City.

Data shared by the Commission with State media shows that 71.43 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballots in the second round.

In comparison, turnout in the first round of the elections held on the 4 April stood at 73 per cent, with 214,898 people voting out of a total of 253,714 eligible voters.

Turnout in previous Local Council elections was recorded at 70 per cent in 2011, 65 per cent in 2014, 66 per cent in 2017 and 68 per cent in 2021.

With this, the current election marks the highest voter turnout recorded in Local Council elections in the Maldives.