Before amendments to the Constitution are made in merging the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, and amendment in the bill for the calculation of parliamentary terms and age requirements, a referendum vote has been announced.
As per today's Elections Commission's (EC) announcement, the referendum vote will be held alongside the Local Council and Women's Development Committee Elections, which will be held on 4th April 2026 from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Vote counting will begin on the day itself, 30 minutes after voting ends. The official results will be announced on 11th April 2026, Saturday, as was stated by the EC.
EC has decided that those who want to change their voter registration to another location can do so until Sunday, 3:00 pm.
President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu put out a Presidential Decree this past Monday, telling the EC to hold the Local Council and Women's Development Committee Election on the date as per the EC's announcement.
The amendment to the Constitution to hold the Presidential and Parliamentary elections simultaneously proposed by the government was passed by the Parliament on 10th February.
As per the Constitution, the bill to merge the elections can only be acted upon if the results of the referendum vote sees a majority result in favor of the merger.
Section 31 of the Public Referendum Act states that if a majority votes in favor, the President must ratify the bill and publish it in the Gazette within 15 days of the official announcement of results. If the amendment fails to secure a majority, the bill is deemed void.
According to the decree, voters will be asked:
“Do you approve the ratification of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, which provides for the Presidential and Parliament elections to be held concurrently and for a change to the term of the Parliament?”
