ECM Reports Nearly 63 Percent Turnout by 4 PM in Nationwide Polls

Nearly 63 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots by 4:00 p.m. in today’s nationwide elections, the Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM) said.

The commission reported that 185,709 voters, or 62.98 percent of eligible voters, had participated by that time. This included 92,567 women and 93,142 men, while 109,167 people had not yet voted. As of 2:00 p.m., a further 53,762 voters had cast their ballots.

Voting was originally scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m., but delays meant some ballot boxes opened later. The ECM confirmed that polling at all stations commenced at 9:32 a.m.

Citing difficulties faced by voters due to long queues and extreme heat, the commission extended voting hours until 5:00 p.m. Polls had initially been scheduled to close at 4:00 p.m.

A total of 294,876 people are eligible to vote, including 144,506 women and 150,370 men.

The ECM is overseeing the Local Council elections, Women’s Development Committee (WDC) elections and a public referendum. The referendum seeks public opinion on whether to support the President ratifying the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution Bill, passed by parliament on 10 February 2026. The amendment proposes to align parliamentary elections with presidential elections and revise the method for calculating parliamentary terms.