The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has announced that while the number of ballot boxes for the upcoming second round of the presidential election may change, the designated locations for these ballot boxes will remain unchanged.
ECM stated that the specific locations where the ballot boxes will be placed will remain the same as the first round, with adjustments only in the number of ballot boxes to accommodate the number of re-registrations. Although there will be changes in the number of ballot boxes on various islands, there are no plans to establish new polling stations in resorts or abroad.
Vice President of ECM Ismail Habeeb explained that resorts and countries had many opportunities to re-register during the first round of the election. As such, Habeeb said that it is not expected that a sufficient number of individuals will register to place a ballot box in another country or region. He also highlighted the significant administrative challenges that would arise if new ballot boxes were introduced in foreign locations. In addition, he mentioned that if the number of registered voters exceeds the allocation for a polling station on any island, an additional polling station will be established on that island.
Initially, ECM had proposed setting up a total of 609 ballot boxes for the presidential election. However, the number was adjusted based on the number of registered voters, resulting in a total of 574 ballot boxes being established for the first round of voting, both in the Maldives and abroad. The ballot boxes were placed across 65 resorts, five countries, five industrial islands, and five prisons. A total of 282,803 individuals are eligible to cast votes for the second round of the election.
The second round of the presidential election is scheduled to be held on September 30 after none of the candidates received 50% of the votes to win in the first round. The two candidates who moved on to the second round are Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, the candidate of the opposition People's National Congress (PNC), and President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the candidate of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).