EC confirms 75% voter turnout for parliamentary polls
The provisional results will be announced this evening and the final results will be announced on the 28th of this month.
By
Aishath Fareeha Abdulla
Around 75% of the eligible voters cast their ballots in Sunday's parliamentary elections, the Election Commission said.
The total number of eligible voters was 284,663. The election began at 8 am and continued till 5:30 pm Sunday.
Election Commission member Hassan Zakariya told Atoll Times on Monday that the turnout in the parliamentary elections was on average compared to other years' parliamentary elections.
"Typically, voter turnout in parliamentary elections is low compared to a presidential election. Sunday's voter turnout was on average similar to other years' parliamentary elections," he said.
"Historically, the turnout was good," he said.
According to him:
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Typically, between 60-70% of the voting population turns out to vote in parliamentary elections
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On average, 80%-90% of people turn out to vote in presidential elections
Despite Hassan's claims, 81% of the population voted in the 2019 general elections, according to figures released by the Election Commission. Before that, in the 2014 election, 78% of the eligible voters turned out to vote.
Hassan said Sunday's election went smoothly and voters and foreign observers noted it as well.
"There was no major incident that changed the results. It went very smoothly. Foreign observers and the public who came out to vote noted that the arrangements were good," Hassan said.
It was a free, fair and transparent election, Hassan said.
The provisional results will be announced this evening and the final results will be announced on the 28th of this month.
According to provisional results, the ruling PNC has won a supermajority with 65 seats in parliament. There are also many independent candidates who won the election.
