The local government authority has announced January 14 as the date to hold the local council elections.
LGA said the election will be opened for candidates on October 26. The term of the present council will expire in February next year.
Due to the recent amendment to the local council Act, the number of councilors to be elected will be down to 655 from the present 1,077.
The number of island councilors is currently 945, but the amendment has brought the number to 585. Next year's polls would also elect 70 Atoll councilors instead of the present 132
According to the amendment, three island councilors would need to be elected from islands with 3,000 or less populations while five would be elected from islands with 3,000 or more people. Only two Atoll councilors will represent two electoral constituencies while one will be elected if the electoral constituency is more than two.