Addu Referendum: No campaigning past 6pm

The Elections Commission (EC) has requested parties abide by the prohibition of campaigning past 6pm today as the public referendum to determine whether Feydhoo, Hulhudhoo, and Meedhoo should be separated from the Addu City Council and granted their own independent councils is to be held tomorrow.

A senior EC official stated that the referendum being held under the Public Referendum Bill tomorrow from 8am to 4pm will abide by election policies.

"And so, any campaigning one day before the vote from 6pm until the vote is over is prohibited by law. We request everyone to take a step back from campaigning," said the official.

The EC has decided that provisional results from each ballot box will be announced at polling stations as counting progresses. The full provisional results will be released tomorrow night once all boxes are tallied. This announcement will be made in Addu, they said.

The official results will then be announced on Sunday, they added.

A total of 18 ballot boxes will be placed across three islands of Addu and Male'. This includes three boxes in Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo each, five boxes in Feydhoo, and seven boxes in Male' for residents of these three islands who reside in the capital.

As per the Elections Commission, there are 4,355 eligible voters in Feydhoo, 2,874 in Hulhudhoo, and 2,347 in Meedhoo.

As the Elections Commission gears up to hold the referendum tomorrow, commission president Zahid and some other members are in Addu City now along with their teams.

Residents of Meedhoo, Hulhudhoo and Feydhoo have conducted exciting campaigns regarding the referendum. Mihaaru News also hosted the Addu Debate (Addu Bahus) last week, where people of differing opinions attended.