Results begin to be announced, most boxes closed

The results from voting stations in the resorts have begun to be announced. However, there are still queues at some of the boxes in Malé and residential islands, where polling is ongoing.

In Malaysia, the ballot boxes have started to be counted. Counting of votes is currently in progress at various centers across the Maldives.

EC officials closed the queues at 4:00 p.m., but polling will continue at the centers until everyone in the queue has had the opportunity to vote. The counting of votes commenced at 4:30 p.m.

The Election Commission's Secretary General, Hassan, announced that the polling queue will be closed at 4 p.m., and candidates and representatives will be informed that no extensions will be granted.

As of 3:39 p.m. today, 58 percent of the population had cast their votes, and there were no long queues at polling stations. The Elections Commission closed the voting queues at 4 p.m.

During an EC press conference, the commission said that they received a complaint of two officials from Alif Alif Atoll Rasdhoo. These two officials were relieved of their duties as they had participated in campaign activities to support a presidential candidate. Additionally, the EC stated that the maximum number of passes that can be issued to political parties has been distributed as proposed by the political parties.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate president Ibrahim Mohamed, Progressive Party of Maldives/ People's National Congress (PPM/PNC) candidate Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, Jumhooree Party (JP) candidate Qasim Ibrahim, The Democrats candidate Ilyas Labeeb, Maldives National Party (MNP) candidate and independent candidate Faris Maumoon have cast their ballots.

After casting his vote, Dr. Muizzu addressed the media and urged everyone to fulfill their legal duties by voting for the candidate of their choice. He encouraged people not to wait until 4 p.m. and to cast their votes as early as possible.

Today's polling began at 8 a.m. and will continue until 4 p.m.

Voters started queuing up well before 7 a.m. to cast their ballots in the highly competitive presidential elections.

The vice chief of the Elections Commission, Ismail Habeeb, stated that voters can begin queuing at 7:30 a.m.

"The security cover will be removed in the presence of the first two individuals who arrive to cast their votes, and voting will commence at 8 a.m.," he said in a tweet.

Habeeb added that officials were on standby at all polling booths.

Voting will conclude at 4 p.m. if there are no individuals in the queue. According to EC, the counting of votes is scheduled to commence at 4:30 p.m.

According to EC, the ballot papers will have to be marked with black or blue inked pens. The vote will be considered void if any other colors are used, the commission said.

A total of 8 candidates are participating in the presidential race this year, with 282,395 eligible voters set to decide their fate. Among the eligible voters, 27,006 are casting their ballots for the first time after turning 18.

EC has confirmed placing 574 ballot boxes across the Maldives for the presidential election, scheduled to commence at 8:00 a.m. and continue until 4:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Out of the total number of ballot boxes in the Maldives, 174 are stationed in the Malé region, while eight are located in foreign locations with Maldivian communities.

If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the valid votes, a second round of voting will take place on September 30. The two candidates with the highest number of votes in the first round will compete in the second round.

The 2023 presidential election marks the largest pool of candidates running for presidency, and is also one of the most competitive presidential elections so far. Three of the eight candidates contested as independents.