Voter turnout lower than 7 September, says EC chief

Elections Commission president Fuad Thaufeeq has noted that the voter turn in the early hours today is lower compared to 7 September.

However, Fuad told Sun that the commission does not have a live update of the number of people on queue at a particular time because the election officials are not using netbooks to monitor ballot boxes.

“Last time, a large number of people queued in the beginning. But we have no way of knowing the numbers on queue this time around. From the broadcasts on TV channels, we know that the number is lower,” Fuad said.

He also advised voters to find out their order number in the voters' list before going to vote. He said ballot boxes for individuals on Male’ Dhaftharu (the general registry) might have changed from the last time, and urged them to utilize the Elections Commission toll free number 1414 to clarify their designated ballot boxes before queuing to vote.

“It is important to check which box you are to vote. If you queue at the wrong box, it will waste a lot of time,” EC president said.

He also noted that polling will end at 3:30 p.m. and urged voters to cast their ballots as early as possible.