Members of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) entered the Elections Commission (EC) premises on Monday evening, to express objection over one of the recounted ballot boxes.

EC had recounted over 20 ballot boxes this past weekend, including the ballot box kept in Kurinbi island on Sunday, which has a three-member council.

While the interim results showed that candidates from Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Mohamed Shaafee and Ahmed Mujthabaa- and PPM’s Ismail Asif had gotten 218 votes per person, the Commission decided to conduct a recount.

After the recount on Sunday night, EC had announced that Shaafee had received 219 votes, hence winning the last seat in the council.

RaajjeMV understands that the PPM members had demanded the Commission to show them the additional vote that Shaafee had received.

Two candidates from PPM, Mohamed Afrah and Abdul Fah’thaah Aboobakuru had acquired the most votes in Kurinbi, with 242 and 229 votes each, hence guaranteeing them seats in the council.

Elections Commission has started releasing the final results of the Local Council Elections on Monday. The council elections were held on May 6.