Referendum Result: Voters Say NO to Joint Presidential, Majlis Polls

Preliminary results from today’s referendum show that voters in the Maldives have rejected ratifying the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution Bill, which proposed holding joint presidential and parliamentary elections.

According to the Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM) website, 14,120 Maldivians voted against ratification, representing 71 percent of the votes counted so far. The commission reported that 5,665 votes, or 29 percent, were in favour of ratifying the amendment. As of 11:30 pm, the ECM had counted a total of 20,169 votes, including 19,775 valid votes and 394 invalid votes.

The referendum asked voters whether they supported the President ratifying the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution Bill, passed by parliament on 10 February 2026. The amendment proposes to hold the parliamentary elections with presidential elections at the same time and to revise the method for calculating parliamentary terms. Currently, the Maldives holds the parliamentary election approximately six months after the presidential election.

A total of 294,876 people were eligible to vote, including 144,506 women and 150,370 men. Voting in all 585 ballot boxes across the Maldives had closed by 10:35 pm, the ECM said, with counting now underway at all stations.

Earlier in the evening, as of 8:45 pm, voting was still taking place at four polling stations, despite the official closing time of 5:00 pm. The ECM had extended voting by an hour due to long queues and extreme heat, with “feels like” temperatures ranging from 36.1°C to 38.4°C.

In addition to the referendum, the ECM also oversaw the Local Council elections and Women’s Development Committee (WDC) elections today.