A total of 51 presidential election-related complaints were submitted on Saturday, the Elections Commission (EC) has said.
EC Vice President Ismail Habeeb said 26 complaints were submitted to the national complaints bureau set up in Male’ and 25 complaints were submitted to atoll and city bureaus.
They included three complaints about campaigning, one complaint about an observer, 10 complaints about the right to vote, 11 complaints about officials, 14 complaints about the secrecy of the ballot, two complaints about bribery and two complaints about other issues.
“Of these, the complaints that could be resolved immediately were resolved. Investigations are underway into complaints that require an investigation,” he said.
Eight candidates contested in the presidential election and none was able to win in one round. People's National Congress (PNC) presidential candidate Dr. Mohamed Muizzu and President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) advanced to the second round run-off due to take place on September 30.
Despite failing to win with an outright majority, Male’ Mayor Muizzu secured a significant victory over President Solih with 45 percent of the vote to the incumbent’s 38 percent. More than 230,000 voters or 79 percent of the electorate cast their ballots.
The turnout was a record low for a presidential election.
