Election day: 43-degree heat, long queues and secrecy dispute mark triple-ballot vote

The extension came after a troubled start. Voting was scheduled for 8am but did not begin at all 588 polling stations until around 9:30am because the required members of the public had not arrived to witness the opening. Transparency Maldives, which deployed 31 observers across Greater Malé and 15 atolls, reported that 15 of its 26 observed stations opened by 8:10am and all were open before 9am. Administrative preparation was otherwise smooth: materials were in place, ballot papers counted, and all boxes verified empty.

The day's most contentious issue was a ballot secrecy dispute over the referendum. In a press conference the night before the election – after observer and official training was complete – the Elections Commission announced that voters who declined any of the three ballot papers would have their refusal publicly declared in the polling station and recorded. The last-minute change was not included in training materials, risked "administrative confusion" and "unequal application," and could "impact the secrecy of voters," Transparency Maldives said. The organisation urged voters to ask for all three ballot papers and make their choice at the booth.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party accused the commission of intimidating government employees into voting in the referendum. Former Justice Husnu Al Suood said the episode demonstrated exactly why multiple elections should not be held on the same day: the inability to manage them, the lack of integrity, the failure to protect ballot secrecy, and the space for undue influence.

In Gaaf Dhaal Gadhdhoo, a disturbance broke out at the school polling station after voters raised concerns that the booth layout compromised ballot secrecy. A group entered the station and attempted to rearrange the booth. Police intervened and restored order. At one of Transparency Maldives' observed stations, police officers requested polling officials to change the polling station layout, and the officials complied. The organisation noted that ballot secrecy was adequately ensured at 23 of its 26 observed stations and said it would closely monitor the remaining three.

Election day fell on one of the hottest days of the year. Malé recorded 34°C with a feels-like temperature of 43°C. Addu reached 41°C feels-like, and the northern cities 39°C. EC President Mohamed Zahid acknowledged the night before that temperatures would be extreme. Polling stations would be air-conditioned or adequately cooled, he assured. But voters queuing outside had no such relief.

The turnout at the original close – 185,709 out of 294,876 voters – was near the low end of the range for council elections, which have averaged between 62 and 69 percent across the previous three cycles. Adding a constitutional referendum does not appear to have meaningfully lifted turnout.

Counting is now underway across the country. 

A total of 2,961 candidates contested the council and WDC elections – 1,322 from the ruling People's National Congress, 905 from the MDP, and 645 independents.

Results from individual boxes are expected through the evening. Counting was disrupted at the Henveiru West polling station in Majeedhiyya School when candidate representatives and observers objected to the designation of invalid votes. A ballot with a checkmark for the mayor but a cross for the constituency's council member was deemed invalid. The mayoral vote should count, the MDP insisted. The law says anything other than a tick mark inside the box will invalidate the ballot.

At the request of the EC, which employed hundreds of government workers as election officials, President Muizzu announced that the government will be closed on Sunday and Monday.