High Court on Thursday ruled that one previously invalidated ballot in the Meedhoo council presidential election should be counted as valid, resulting in a tie in the final result.

Under the original result announced after the local council elections, MDA candidate Mohamed Shahid had won the seat by a margin of one vote.

However, PNC candidate Suha Ibrahim challenged the outcome at the High Court, arguing that two ballot papers cast in her favour had been wrongly invalidated.

One of the disputed ballots had been rejected because the tick mark was drawn heavily. The High Court ruled that although the mark was bold, there were no other markings or drawings on the paper.

“The voter clearly knows which candidate he has chosen and therefore the vote should be considered valid,” the court said.

The second disputed ballot, however, contained an additional marking alongside the tick and was therefore correctly invalidated, according to the ruling.

The court ordered the Elections Commission to re-announce the result after counting one of the previously rejected ballots as valid. The revised tally leaves both candidates tied on 392 votes each.

The ruling marks the second High Court decision affecting the outcome of the 4 April local council elections.

In a separate case decided on Wednesday, the High Court also overturned the result of the M. Veyvah Council election following a complaint filed by PNC candidate Mohamed Nazeeh.

The case centred on three ballot papers that had initially been accepted as valid by the Elections Commission. The High Court later ruled that all three votes were invalid and ordered the commission to reannounce the result.

As a result of that ruling, Nazeeh is set to replace the MDP candidate as the winner of the election.