Re-vote ends Meedhoo deadlock as Suha wins by 80-vote margin; PNC takes full council

The ruling PNC candidate Suha Ibrahim has won the re-run of the Dh. Meedhoo council president election, held after a disputed result in the April local council elections.

Besides Suha, Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) candidate Mohamed Shahid contested for the Meedhoo council presidency.

A total of 1,049 people were eligible to vote in the re-election. According to provisional results, Suha won by a decisive margin.

Three ballot boxes were placed for the re-vote, all three were won by Suha.

Of the 985 people who voted, Suha secured 529 votes while Shahid received 449. Seven votes were invalid. Suha therefore won the election by a margin of 80 votes.

With this result, the PNC now holds a complete majority in the Meedhoo council.

In the April 4 local council elections, the Election Commission initially announced that Suha had won the Meedhoo council president seat by a margin of one vote, 393 votes to Shahid’s 392.

However, the MDA filed a complaint after it was discovered that an ineligible person had voted at a polling station in L. Fonadhoo. Suha also filed a complaint alleging that some of Shahid’s votes were invalid.

After reviewing the complaints, the Election Commission ruled that MDA’s Shahid had in fact won by one vote. Suha then appealed to the High Court, arguing that a vote cast for her had been invalidated due to a line drawn on the ballot paper.

On May 14, the High Court ruled that the invalidated vote was valid and ordered the results to be amended. With the correction, both Suha and Shahid received 392 votes, resulting in a tie and triggering a re-vote to elect the island council president.