Provisional results from Saturday’s nationwide referendum indicate that a majority of Maldivian voters opposed holding Presidential and Parliamentary elections on the same day.

The referendum was conducted alongside Local Council Elections and Women’s Development Committee (WDC) elections.

According to preliminary figures, of the approximately 18,862 votes counted by 12:30 AM, 71% were cast against the proposal to combine the elections, while 29% were in favor.

Polling began at 8:00 AM and was originally scheduled to close at 4:00 PM, but the Elections Commission of Maldives extended voting until 5:00 PM following public requests.

Overall, preliminary figures indicate that 185,709 voters participated across the three polls, representing a turnout of 62.98%.

Of these, 92,567 were women and 93,142 were men.

All figures remain provisional pending the completion of vote counting.