Elections Commission has decided that the voting hours for the Parliamentary Election scheduled to be on April 21 will be extended until 17:30 hrs in the evening.
Commission member Hassan Zakariyya told Mihaaru today that in accordance with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Parliamentary Elections, it has been decided that the voting hours on Sunday will be from 08:00 hrs in the morning till 17:30 hrs.
Zakariyya said that the decision had been reached in consideration of two things: the weather patterns these days indicate there may be heavy rains on voting day, or there might be extremely high temperatures. Rain may contribute to lower voter turn out, and should it turn out to be hot, less people may join the queues in the afternoon hours. Hence, the lengthening of the window would allow more persons to exercise their right to vote.
The total number of eligible voters for this election are 284,663: 145,302 men and 139, 361 women
A total of 368 candidates are contesting in 93 constituencies. Of these, 130 are independent candidates.
Early this morning, EC has commenced the transport of ballot papers and other necessary resources to islands.
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