The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has announced the voting hours of different countries for the second round of the presidential election.
ECM has placed ballot boxes in five countries for this year's presidential election. As such, ECM decided to establish polling stations in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Trivandrum in India, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, and London in the United Kingdom (UK). ECM stated that some countries have faced issues such as delays in the opening of ballot boxes due to voters not arriving to the polling stations on time. Therefore, ECM has announced the hours for voting in advance.
Voting will commence at 0800hrs and conclude at 1700hrs in Abu Dhabi. In Trivandrum, Colombo, and London, voting will start at 0830hrs and close at 1730hrs. Voting in Kuala Lumpur will begin at 1100hrs and wrap up at 2000hrs. ECM urges individuals living abroad to cast votes before the ballot box closing times to ensure participation in 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).