The going rate and how it moves
The MVR 5,000 baseline – around two weeks of median monthly income – can surge to MVR 7,000–10,000 in particularly high-stakes races, and drop to MVR 1,000–2,000 in smaller ones. Vote-buying is criminalised under the Election Act, with penalties of MVR 72,000–288,000 or one to four years in jail, but to date there have been no criminal prosecutions.
It is rarely a simple cash handoff
Payments are mostly requested in euphemistic terms as assistance: paying off unpaid bills, funding medical travel abroad, or buying household appliances. Vote-buying also happens at group level – families or blocs of 30–40 voters send representatives to negotiate, which increases their bargaining power. Voters whose votes can be confirmed, such as the elderly or people with disabilities who need assisted voting, often receive much larger payments.
ID card buying
A rising practice is paying uncommitted voters or opponents’ supporters to give up their ID cards until voting closes, removing them from the voter pool. Focus group respondents reported individuals selling their ID cards for around MVR 5,000, with some demanding up to MVR 20,000, and one estimate put a bundle of 40 ID cards at around MVR 100,000.
Key facts
- The baseline rate for buying a vote in Maldivian elections is around MVR 5,000, consistent across cities and islands.
- In high-stakes races the rate rises to MVR 7,000–10,000 per vote.
- MVR 5,000 is roughly two weeks of Maldivian median monthly income.
- Between 75% and 90% of campaign budgets are set aside for vote-buying.
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