9 November 2013, Male’; The Presidential election in the Maldives has begun this morning at 0700hrs and would close at 1530hrs. The Elections Commission of the Maldives has announced that there are 239,105 eligible voters for this election.

There are three candidates contesting in the elections. They are Qasim Ibrahim from the Jumhooree Party (JP), Abdullah Yameen Abdul Gayoom from the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), and Mohamed Nasheed from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

The Elections Commission has announced that 475 ballot boxes will be placed for the elections. This includes 7 boxes that will be placed overseas which include 2 boxes in Colombo, Sri Lanka; 1 box in New Delhi, 1 box in Thiruvananthapuram, India; 1 box in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 1 box in London, UK; and 1 box in Singapore.

In order to ensure the credibility of the election, the Elections Commission and the Government have invited international observers and monitors from other countries and international organizations in addition to local observers.

Observers from local NGOs such as Transparency Maldives and Maldives Democracy Network, political parties and independent commissions including the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives and Anti-Corruption Commission are also active during the Elections.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established a hotline for inquiries. The number is +9607794601.