The Elections Commission (EC) has predicted voter turnout for the ongoing Local Council Elections (LCE) to be between 38% to 40% as voter queues dwindle.

Speaking during a National Advisory Committee meeting of the EC, Chairman Ahmed Shareef said that so far voter turnout stands at 17%.

Shareef noted that this is about 44,026 people including 26,000 men and 17,000 women. In comparison to previous elections, this is a significant decrease in voter turnout over time.

There are 273,128 total eligible voters for the election,

Shareef further added that like previous election trends, the number of voters out at queues are expected to increase in the afternoon.

The first Local Council Election was held in 2011 with a turnout of 74% while all two subsequent elections have seen a voter turnout of 65%.

The elections which have a total of 3,934 candidates competing for local council seats have 273,182 eligible voters. Out of the 3,943 candidates, 2,264 candidates are competing for local council seats while 1,670 are competing to be part of organisations that work for women's development.

There are over 700 ballot boxes for the election with over 7,000 officials working to ensure a smooth run.