The Election Commission (EC) has expressed concern over the low turnout in the Addu City Hithadhoo Women's Development Committee by-election held Saturday.
Over 12,000 people were eligible to vote in Saturday's election. Fifteen ballot boxes were placed in polling stations in Male' City and Hithadhoo. These include 12 polling stations in different parts of Hithadhoo and three in Male'.
Despite the high number of eligible voters, only 1,009 people turned out for the election. This is 8.34 percent of eligible voters.
Election Commission's Vice-President Ismail Habib expressed concern over the low turnout and said the expenditure incurred to conduct a by-election is very high. Noting that only 1009 out of 12,099 eligible voters turned out for the election, he asked what was more wasteful than spending lakhs on an election with such a low turnout. He said the issue needs to be addressed and resolved immediately.
The commission has already proposed that elections not be held if the number of members on a WDC meets the quorum.
In Saturday's by-election, opposing PPM's candidate, Fathimath Nazeeha, contested against main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)'s Aminath Shahidha. Nazeeha won the election, receiving 567 votes against Shahidha's 426 votes. Sixteen votes were counted as invalid.
