The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has decided to place an additional 12 ballot boxes for the second round of the presidential election.
A total of 282,804 citizens are eligible to vote in the second round of the election, including 409 new voters. ECM made changes to the ballot box placements after processing the re-registration forms and has also decided to place two ballot boxes in some polling stations.
ECM will be placing a total of 586 ballot boxes for the second round of the election, which is an increase compared to the 574 ballot boxes placed in the first round. The commission decided to place 11 additional ballot boxes in the Greater Male' Region, with a total of 187 ballot boxes. An additional ballot box will also be placed abroad, with a total of nine boxes to be placed in other countries.
No changes have been made to the number of ballot boxes to be placed in the atolls, resorts, prisons, and industrial islands. As such, 319 ballot boxes will be placed in the atolls, 65 boxes in resorts, five boxes in prisons, and one in an industrial island. The islands selected for polling stations also remain unchanged. However, ECM has changed the location of 43 polling stations in order to resolve the changes faced due to space constraints at some polling stations in the first round.
Additionally, a total of 12,083 observers, monitors, and candidate representatives will be active during the second round of the election, which is a significant increase compared to the 9,071 observers, monitors, and representatives in the first round. However, the number of foreign officials has been reduced from 165 to 98.