The Elections Commission said that 21.05 percent of the eligible voters have cast their ballots before noon in the three elections being held today.
The Commission is holding the Local Council Election, the Women's Development Council Election, as well as the Public Referendum to hold the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections concurrently.
Voting began at 08:00 across the country, and the Commission said that before 12:00, 62, 083 voters had cast their ballots. The Commission reported that this includes 33,245 men and 28,838 women.
The Commission also said that 232,793 voters are yet to cast their ballots in the concurrent elections.
Voting is set to close at 4:00 in the evening, and the Commission had said that any voter in the queue at the time would be allowed to cast their ballots.
The Elections Commission has placed 588 ballot boxes across the country, including 240 in the Greater Male' area and 347 in the Atolls.
It also said that 2,961 candidates are competing in the Local Council and Women's Development Council Elections. It further stated that there would be 6,581 Commission officials at the voting stations and that more than 8,000 monitors and observers have registered for the three elections.
This is the first time three elections would be held concurrently in the Maldives. The Commission had previously said that all voters would be given all three ballots at the station, but said last night that the voters were now allowed to choose which election he/she want to vote in.
The Commission further said that if the voter rejects a certain ballot, it would be announced at the polling station to maintain transparency.
