The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has announced that the window for filing nominations for the upcoming Local Council Elections and Women’s Development Committee (WDC) elections will open this Saturday.
The commission has scheduled the elections for both the Local Councils and Women’s Development Committees to be held on Saturday, April 4th.
In a first for the Maldives, the Elections Commission has introduced a digital submission process, requiring candidates to submit their application forms via an online portal. The deadline for submitting nominations is February 1st.
The ECM has also released detailed information regarding the distribution of ballot boxes. According to the commission, 321 ballot boxes will be placed across the administrative islands in the atolls. Additionally, to facilitate voting for residents from the atolls living in the Greater Male’ area—including those from Kulhudhuffushi City, Fuvahmulah City, Thinadhoo City, and Addu City—240 ballot boxes will be stationed across Male’, Hulhumale’, and Villimale’.
In addition to inhabited islands, ballot boxes are traditionally placed in industrial zones, prisons, and resorts. For this election, the commission has decided to place 3 ballot boxes in industrial areas, 5 in prisons, and 50 in various resorts. Furthermore, two ballot boxes will be placed abroad: one in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and one in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
According to the voters’ list published by the Elections Commission, a total of 294,937 individuals are eligible to vote in this year’s elections, comprising 144,527 women and 150,410 men.
The final report on the determination of electoral constituencies indicates that 626 councilors will be elected to island councils and 52 to city councils. Among the island councils, 132 islands will elect 3 councilors each, including the council president and a female member. Another 46 islands are set to elect 5 councilors each, which includes the council president and two female councilors.
The number of members to be elected for the Women’s Development Committees will correspond to the number of members elected to their respective island or city councils.
