New Delhi, 11 September: At the invitation of the Election Commission of Maldives, ECI Arun Goel is currently leading a three-member delegation to Maldives.
Accompanied by Ajay Bhadoo, Deputy Election Commissioner, and Pramod Kumar Sharma, Principal Secretary, the Election Commissioner arrived on an official visit to the island nation to observe the conduct of the Presidential Election, 2023. The first round of this election was held on September 9.
Regarding their visit, the Election Commission, in an official release, informed, “The team visited 22 polling booths located in Male and Hulhumale and observed the polling process, the system and procedure of voter registration and identification, the arrangements of booths for polling and noted many initiatives taken by the EC of Maldives.”
Significantly, international observers from other countries also participated in the election observation program.
About Maldives Presidential Polls:
The Maldives Presidential Polls have headed to a runoff round after none of the candidates received the proposed majority (50% of total votes) to secure the top seat. According to official data, out of a total of eight people in the contest, even the incumbent President Ibrahim Solih and the other top candidate Mohamed Muiz failed to secure over 50% of the vote on Saturday, thus leading the country to a runoff round.
With nearly all ballots counted, preliminary results showed that the mayor of the capital Male, Mohamed Muiz, successfully managed to lead over incumbent President Solih with 46% of the vote, while Solih holds 39 percent.
According to the Maldives Election Commission website, the island nation will again go to the polls on September 30, 2023, to be contested only by the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes in the first election.
It is pertinent to note that under the Election Laws of Maldives, the President is elected for a five-year term directly by the people through universal and secret suffrage. The voting system for the election of the President is a direct election through a majority vote with the first-past-the-post method. This year, the number of eligible electors for the Presidential Election is 2,82,395 (Male: 1,44,199 and Female: 1,38,196).
