Turnout at nearly 50% halfway into voting in Meedhoo rerun

Voter turnout was at nearly 50 percent at Saturday noon, halfway into polling in the Dh. Meedhoo council presidential election rerun.

The seat of the president of Meedhoo Council is being contested by Mohamed Shahid from the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) and Suha Ibrahim from the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC).

Polls opened at 08:00 am and will close at 04:00 pm. The Elections Commission (EC) has installed three ballot boxes for the vote; two in Meedhoo, and one at the Dharumavantha School in Male’ City.

Total 1,049 people are eligible to vote in the rerun. This includes 566 men and 483 women.

According to EC, 523 voters – 313 men and 210 women – cast their ballots by 12:00 pm.

This makes for a voter turnout of 49.86 percent at the midway point into voting.

526 people – making for over 50.14 percent of eligible voters – have yet to cast their vote.

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— Elections Commission (@ElectionsMv) June 13, 2026

The local council elections took place on April 4.

The preliminary results initially released by the EC showed PNC’s Suha secured 393 votes for Meedhoo presidency, while MDA's Shahid trailed behind by just one vote with 392 votes.

But the MDA lodged a case with the EC after it was uncovered that an ineligible voter had cast their ballot at a polling station in L. Fonadhoo. PNC also asked for a recount, claiming that the votes Shahid received included an invalid ballot.

The members of EC’s complaints bureau unanimously agreed that the ballot in question was invalid, and decided to omit it from the vote count.

The EC conducted a recount, and announced MDA’s Shahid won the election by a margin of one vote.

Suha subsequently filed an appeal with the High Court, arguing that the mark that invalidated a ballot that was cast for her did not come from the ink of the pen that was used.

The High Court decided in her favor on May 14, and instructed the EC to revise the decisions based on the decision.

Th ruling tied Suha and Shahid, with 392 votes each.

The commission subsequently announced a rerun to determine the winner.