Addu vote: Hulhudhoo, Meedhoo back split, Feydhoo against

By 4 pm today, queues at the polling stations had been closed by officials while those already lined up had been given the chance to cast their ballots.

Polling stations that had no people queued up to vote had begun closing the ballot boxes.

Vote counting began 30 minutes from the time each box had been closed.

Elections Commission (EC) Vice Chief Abdul Rahman Salah Rasheed told Raajje TV that he estimated over 50 percent of eligible voters would cast their ballots in today’s referendum. However, he said the turnout figure would be confirmed only after the final results are announced.

He added that the provisional results would begin to be received within an hour or an hour and a half.

According to the votes counted so far, residents of Feydhoo have voted against forming a separate council. Only 39 people voted in favour of creating a new council in Feydhoo, while 146 voted against, from the ballot box placed at Kalaafaanu School in Male'.

Overall results show that Feydhoo residents prefer to remain under the Addu City Council, while Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo residents favor forming their own councils.

According to figures announced so far, 372 people in Feydhoo voted for a separate council, while 1,015 voted against. 

All ballot boxes in Feydhoo have now been counted, confirming that voters there want to remain under the Addu City Council rather than forming a separate council.

In Hulhudhoo, 351 people voted in favour of forming a separate council, while 151 voted against, based on results from three boxes counted so far.

Fifteen years ago, on 9 October 2010, residents of Meedhoo and Feydhoo voted not to be placed under the same Addu City Council. At the time, Meedhoo and Feydhoo residents opposed the formation of a city council, while the people of Hulhudhoo voted to form a city council.

However, in today’s historic referendum, Feydhoo residents voted to remain under the Addu City Council, marking a significant shift from the position taken 15 years ago. The result is being viewed as an important and politically symbolic decision for the region.