The Election Commission (EC) has expressed concern over the low voter turnout in the by-election held on Saturday, January 13, to elect the Malé City Mayor and three council members.
The elections were held after members from Malé City Council's Maafannu, Central Henveiru, and Henveiru South constituencies reserved for women in the city council were The elections were held after members from Malé City Council's Maafannu, Central Henveiru, and Henveiru South constituencies reserved for women in the city council were appointed to other government positions.
A total of 54,680 voters were eligible to cast their votes, but only 17,000 had done so by the end of polling time.
EC Vice-President Ismail Habeeb expressed concerns, stating that the turnout, at 32 percent, was significantly lower than anticipated.
Habeeb said that while the turnout is usually low in local council by-elections, it was expected that more people would turn up to vote as the election was held to elect the Mayor of Malé City.
In the last mayoral elections in 2021, the voter turnout was 40.93 percent.
Noting that there has always been concern about low voter turnout in local council by-elections, Habeeb said that it necessitates finding out why the number of voters coming out to vote is low in such elections.
The results of yesterday's elections were announced last night, with Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate Adam Azim winning the mayoral seat.
Out of the three council seats, MDP candidate Ahmed Rishwan won the Central Henveiru constituency, while People's National Congress (PNC) candidate Aminath Rishfa won the Henveiru South seat. PNC candidate Hassan Nizam won the Maafannu South council seat.
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