The upcoming parliamentary elections in the Maldives, scheduled for April 21, 2024, will mark a historic moment as they will be held during the holy month of Ramzan for the first time.
However, due to logistical considerations and re-registration requests from voters, ballot boxes for the elections will be placed in India, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, the Maldivian election commission announced on Sunday.
Hassan Zakariyya, the secretary general of the Maldivian election body, confirmed that a sufficient number of voters had re-registered for ballot boxes in these three foreign countries.
"During the re-registration window, voters had re-registered sufficiently warranting ballot boxes in three countries, which are Thiruvananthapuram, India, Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia," Hassan stated.
The election commission revealed that around 11,000 Maldivians requested re-registration to relocate their polling stations.
The six-day window for this process expired on Saturday.
Ballot boxes will also be placed in Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram), Colombo, and Kuala Lumpur, as at least 150 people re-registered to vote in each of these countries.
While the number of re-registrations this year is relatively low compared to past elections, the election commission decided against setting up ballot boxes in the UK, UAE, and Thailand due to insufficient re-registration requests.
Originally scheduled for March 17, the parliamentary elections were postponed after an amendment to an Act to avoid conducting elections during Ramzan. They are now rescheduled for April 21. A total of 389 candidates are vying for 93 parliamentary seats in the Maldives' elections.
Notably, the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), known for its pro-India stance, leads with the highest number of candidates contesting 90 seats.
Following closely is the main ruling coalition of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the People's National Congress (PNC), contesting 89 seats.
President Mohamed Muizzu, belonging to the pro-China PNC, gained power last year on an anti-India platform.
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