Voting has commenced for the run-off election to choose the Council President of Dh. Meedhoo.

The Elections Commission (EC) stated that polling for the by-election began at 8:00 AM today and will proceed until 4:00 PM this evening. According to the commission, the voter turnout as of 9:00 AM stood at 11.53 percent, meaning the remaining 88.47 percent of eligible voters had yet to cast their ballots.

A total of 1,049 individuals are eligible to vote in this election. This includes 587 voters registered to cast their ballots in Meedhoo and 462 voters registered in Malé.

The run-off election was triggered following a High Court ruling concerning the outcome of the Local Council Election held in April this year. The two candidates contesting for the Meedhoo Council presidency are Mohamed Shahid representing the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) and Suha Ibrahim representing the ruling People's National Congress (PNC).

In the initial provisional results of the April election, Suha had secured 393 votes while Shahid received 392 votes. However, following a complaint lodged by the MDA, a recount was conducted, after which the EC invalidated two of Suha's votes. Suha subsequently appealed the decision at the High Court.

The High Court concluded its review by ruling that one of the two invalidated votes was actually valid. The court determined that although there were extra markings over the checkmark, the voter's intent was clearly discernible. This ruling brought both candidates to a dead tie with exactly 392 votes each, leading to today’s second round of voting to break the tie and determine the next Council President.