Voting is largely peaceful in the ongoing presidential election except for minor incidents, Elections Commission (EC) Vice President Ismail Habeeb has said.
At a press conference, Habeeb detailed some of the incidents that have occurred at polling stations and said voting was progressing peacefully.
"Voting is underway today with everything running smoothly and peacefully. However, there have been some minor incidents in some places," he said.
Referring to an incident in Alif Alif Rashoo, Habeeb said voting was temporarily halted in the island after observers near two ballot boxes violated their agreements.
The two observers admitted to violating the agreement and the issue has been resolved with voting resumed in the island, he added.
Habeeb said one man had been suspected of taking a photo of the ballot paper in Baa Thulhaadhoo island while there has been a complaint that a voter from Kaafu Guraidhoo Center for people with mental disabilities was unable to cast their ballot.
Habeeb assured that everyone who registered will be given the right to vote. He also noted that some people were concerned over the placement of the booths in polling stations.
The polling booths were set up in accordance with the advice of the National Advisory Committee on Elections. The ballot box was placed in such a way as to limit the possibility of taking photographs of ballot papers.
Some 282,395 people are eligible to vote in the presidential election, including 27,006 first time voters, according to the EC.
