Maldives President endorses preferential voting change to eliminate costly runoffs

In Maldives, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has endorsed a change in the preferential voting system for the archipelago’s presidential elections, aiming to eliminate costly and time-consuming runoff rounds. 

The new system would allow voters to rank candidates in order of preference, ensuring a winner is determined without requiring a second round of voting. The current system requires a candidate to win over 50% of the vote in the first round-something that has never happened since the Maldives adopted the presidential model,



forcing a runoff every time.

In a message on his new WhatsApp channel, Dr Muizzu said voters should be allowed to rank candidates in order of preference, ensuring a winner in a single round.

Dr Muizzu’s proposal has received support from former President Mohamed Nasheed, who backed the idea on social media.

Dr Muizzu also suggested synchronising presidential and parliamentary elections to improve efficiency and cut spending.