MALE, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Maldives will hold its fourth local council elections on April 4 next year, the country's Elections Commission announced on Wednesday.

The Elections Commission is planning to make changes to the voting system by implementing a 700 vote limit to each ballot box, increasing the number of ballot boxes used by 178, local media reports said.

More than 7,000 officials will be deployed to oversee the polls, compared to the 5,000 deployed during the last local council elections in 2017.

Ballot boxes will be placed in Maldivian resorts where over 50 citizens are registered to vote, and on industrial islands where over 25 citizens are registered to vote.

Ballot boxes will also be sent to foreign countries that host more than 150 Maldivians registered to vote.

Local councils were introduced to the Maldives under the Decentralization Act of 2010. Council members are elected for three years terms.

The act was revised in 2017 to reduce the number of Councillors from more than 1,000 to 653.

Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said that more reforms to the local council system are planned, including a budget of 5 percent of government income for local councils and a one third quota of seats for women.

The first local council elections were held in 2011.

The last local council elections were held in 2017 and saw a 66 percent turn out. Enditem

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