Commencement of Campaign Period

by Electoral Commission

In accordance with Section 109A of the Electoral Act 2014, the Electoral Commission, following their meeting today has determined that the campaign period for the 2022 General Election shall commence on 26 April 2022 and end 48 hours prior to the date of the General Election as announced by the President.

The meeting took place this morning at the Fijian Elections Office headquarters in Toorak and in attendance were Commission Chairperson Mr Mukesh Nand and Commissioners; Mr Jawahar Lal, Ms Kavita Raniga, Ms Selina Lee Wah, Mrs Margot Jenkins, Mr Simione Naiduki and Ms Ateca Ledua.

-Ends-

Please forward all media queries to the FEO Communications team at communications@feo.org.fj

Statement from the Electoral Commission

by Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission received an appeal under section 30 of the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures) Act 2013 on 24 February 2022 from HOPE (Humanity Opportunity Prosperity Equality). HOPE appealed the decision of the Registrar of Political Parties for deregistering the party.

The Electoral Commission invited HOPE leader Ms. Tupou Draunidalo and the Registrar of Political Parties on 25 February 2022 to present their submissions to the Electoral Commission.

After considering submissions from both the HOPE leader Ms. Tupou Draunidalo and the Registrar of Political Parties, the Electoral Commission made the decision to dismiss the appeal.

The decision can be accessed from the EC website: https://www.electoralcommission.org.fj/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Decision-of-the-appeal.pdf

 

 -ENDS-

Statement from the Electoral Commission

by Electoral Commission

Members of the Electoral Commission, Mr. Simione Naiduki, Mr. Jay Lal, Mrs. Kavita Raniga, Mrs Margot Jenkins and Ms. Selina Lee Wah wish to advise members of the public, particularly Fiji Times and Mahendra Chaudhary of FLP that the Electoral Commission continues to operate and discharge its roles and functions under the Fijian Constitution and Electoral laws.

We therefore correct claims by Mahendra Chaudhry when he said in today’s Fiji Times that due to the absence of a Chair, the EC is not operating at the moment.

Under section 5 of the Electoral Act, a quorum is formed by at least 4 members of the Commission and as such the roles and functions of EC continue to be discharged.

The EC expected Fiji Times to properly verify this information before publishing it. While the EC members work on part time basis, the FEO operates a full time secretariat headed by the SoE which could have facilitated clarifications if only Fiji Times would have checked.

The EC urges news organizations and political parties to exercise diligence when making such reports and statements.

Authorised by

Commissioners: Simione Naiduki, Jay Lal, Kavita Raniga, Margot Jenkins and Selina Lee Wah

Elections Disability Access Working Group (EDAWG) Term of Reference Signing Between Fijian Elections Office, Pacific Disability Forum and National Council for Persons with Disabilities

by Electoral Commission

Statement by the Chair of the Electoral Commission
Mr Suresh Chandra

Elections Disability Access Working Group (EDAWG)
Term of Reference Signing Between Fijian Elections Office, Pacific Disability Forum
and National Council for Persons with Disabilities

Date: 20 November 2021
Venue: Grand Pacific Hotel
Time: 10am – 12pm

 

Bula Vinaka Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my honor and privilege this morning to officiate the signing of this Election Disability Access Working Group Terms of Reference between the Fijian Elections Office and various representatives of organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs). Today is yet another instrumental moment in our history as we build inclusive, accessible and free election processes in our Fiji.

On behalf of the Electoral Commission, I would like to congratulate all partners involved for finalizing this working document so that all who are concerned can participate and collaborate to deliver effective electoral processes that are not only accessible and inclusive but create greater ownership within all communities in Fiji.

We consider persons with disabilities and OPDs as vital partners in elections and political process-focused programs. OPDs provide a pre-existing platform for mobilizing persons with disabilities and representing the interests of persons with disabilities and as such they should be included at every stage of the electoral process. Partnering with them makes it easier to engage on an equal platform and initiate activities that are contextually relevant without re-inventing the wheel.

It is my view that the previous TOR provided a mutually beneficial platform for both the FEO and the OPD’s in the last election. The outcomes of the last TOR were obvious in the conduct of the election and the involvement of the OPD’s in the various stages.

In terms of our role under section 75 of the Constitution, we see the Electoral Commission as the overall in charge of the elections but we are of the view that the Electoral Commission through the Fijian Elections Office must work together with key organizations in this country so that we can facilitate the realization of rights of certain minority groups that would otherwise be ignored. One must look at the reports from 2006 to see what was the level of attention given to the access for disabled persons’ and then compare the same with 2018. It is our view that people with disabilities should be able to work in elections, participate in the polling process, contest the elections, participate in observation of the elections as well as do anything necessary just like any other person who is not in this category and to do this we must make sure that we constructively prepare for the election in a manner that is conducive to such group of people.

Going forward to the next election it will be very interesting to see what this Terms of Reference will realize for us. On behalf of the Electoral Commission and the people of Fiji, I would like to wish all the OPDs and the Fijian Elections Office the very best of success in realizing this Terms of Reference. We must not leave anyone behind.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I was appointed the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission in February 2017. During my first term as Chairperson, I oversaw the successful conduct of the 2018 General Election. The Multinational Observer Group in its report held that the 2018 General Election was fair and credible and it broadly represented the will of the Fijian people. It was one of the most well organized elections in the history of our country.

 I was subsequently re-appointed as chairperson for another 3 year term. I am privileged to work next to 6 very diligent, respectable and established individuals who are the Electoral Commissioners. I also acknowledge Mohammed Saneem, the Supervisor of Elections and his team at the Fijian Elections Office for effectively handling all election tasks and responsibilities. I congratulate Saneem for completing his Masters in Electoral Policy and Administration- truly an asset to Fiji.

The preparations for the next election have already begun and I have been closely keeping track of the progress. Things are definitely shaping up.

It is with a heavy heart that I wish to advise that I have informed His Excellency, the President and the Constitutional Offices Commission that I am stepping down from my appointment as Chair of the Electoral Commission and today is my final day in Office.

I would like to thank H.E the President, the COC and the people of Fiji for entrusting me with this tremendous responsibility and I would like to wish the Electoral Commission, the Fijian Elections Office and the people of Fiji all the success in the upcoming General Election.

I started my career as a civil servant and I held my appointment as Chair of the Electoral Commission with dignity, pride and honor. I am joined by my wife here this morning as I bid farewell to you all.

Thank you, Vinaka Vakalevu and may God bless Fiji.

Electoral Commission calls for Expression of Interest for the Audit of the National Register of Voters

by Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission will be advertising for expressions of interest from reputable firms, agencies and organizations that can conduct the audit of the National Register of Voters in Fiji.

The expression of interest for the audit of the National Register of Voters will be open for 21 days ending on 24 November 2021 at 4pm. The Electoral Commission anticipates that organizations with experience and knowledge in this regard both locally and internationally will be keen to undertake the exercise.

Electoral Commission Chairperson Mr. Suresh Chandra says “The Multinational Observer Group from the 2018 General Election recommended that the Electoral Commission should consider an audit of the voter list. We have had that as part of our long term plan and since the election is very near it will be ideal to conduct an audit so that the voter list can be audited just as we enter the election phase.”

The voter list audit will be based on internationally accepted principles of audit of voter lists which includes lists to voter and voter to lists analysis as well as any other general recommendations.

Mr. Chandra explained that a panel of assessors made up of Electoral Commissioners will determine the institution or organization that will ultimately undertake the audit of the voter list.


–Ends–

Link: EOI National Register of Voters

Please forward all media queries to the FEO Communications team at communications@feo.org.fj

Signing of MOU between NZEC and FEO and Handing over of Cardboard Voting Booths

by Electoral Commission

Statement by the Chair of the Electoral Commission
Mr Suresh Chandra
Signing of MOU between NZEC and FEO and Handing over of
Cardboard Voting Booths
Venue: FEO HQ
Date: 21/10/21
Time: 2pm

The CEO of New Zealand Electoral Commission, Ms Alicia Wright
The New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Fiji, Excellency, Mr Jonathan Curr
The Supervisor of Elections
The team from the Fijian Elections Office
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Ni sa Bula Vinaka and a very warm welcome to you all. A special welcome to our counterparts in New Zealand via Zoom. It’s good to see you Alicia and team.

Today marks a very auspicious day as we strengthen the partnership between our agencies with the extension of our Memorandum of Understanding. Our longstanding partnership, support and cooperation continues.

We will also receive the generous donation of 2,000 boxes of Cardboard Voting Booths from the New Zealand Government. The Cardboard voting screens are a recent feature in Fijian Elections. You will note that the FEO has been using cardboard voting screens in polling stations around the country since 2014. These lightweight, convenient, yet durable platforms are directly suited to the demands of the terrain and transport in Fiji. These are much easier to store, setup, fold back and transport in comparison to the large wooden compartments and the cloth screen curtain. Ladies and Gentlemen, the cardboard voting screens are a classic example of innovation in elections. I would like to heartily thank the New Zealand Government  and the people of New Zealand for this support in kind towards the 2022 General Election.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Electoral Commission’s overall responsibility under Section 75 is to conduct free and fair elections in accordance with the  law. The Electoral Commission does this through the Fijian Elections Office. And the Electoral Commission wants this process to be done in applying  best international practices and standards. The Electoral Commission not only wants the elections to be free and fair, but wants it to be credible. It  wants the process and the service delivery to be of the highest possible standard. And to do this, as chairman, I recognize that there is no need to  reinvent the wheel.

Ladies and Gentlemen, each country is unique in terms of context. Unique in terms of our capacities. The capacities in elections that have been built  in NZ can be useful for Fiji simply through knowledge sharing. The question we ask simply is what do we know about elections and what do they know  about elections? How much experience do we have of elections? How much experience do they have? This is where the Pacific sharing comes in  place, the world wide based sharing of election best practices.

There is no one standard definition for democracy, it’s a continuously evolving concept. So as the Electoral Commission, this partnership adds value  to the election that we will be having.

Whilst there may be some instances where there are circumstances unique to Fiji, there are global issues and  challenges in elections that are not limited to or specific to any one country alone. For instance, the constant battle with misinformation is no longer a  feature unique only to developing democracies, but it is something that is now gripping developed democracies as well. The second is the motivating of voters to come forward and vote.  Turning interest into participation, converting disinterest into interest. These are now things that are universal to all EMBs. Then the global  challenges of cyber terrorism and risks with technology continue to grow and require sharing of experiences and successes as well as lessons learnt.

The challenges seem substantial, but we can overcome or even manage these threats through collaboration. This partnership between our two entities will be a major contributing factor in approaching these challenges.

Ladies and gentlemen, just like the 2018 General Election, we want the 2022 General Election to be a platform for Fijians to express their will with  confidence, security and freedom. Heading into the polls the Electoral Commission is committed to ensuring that this sentiment of the Commission is translated into action.

Following the continued support from our counterparts in New Zealand and the NZ High Commission in Fiji, we are certain that this contribution will greatly allow the realization of our goals.

With those few words ladies and gentlemen, I thank you all for your attendance.

Vinaka Vakalevu.

Briefing by the SOE, Mr. Mohammed Saneem on preparations towards the 2022 Fiji General Elections

by Electoral Commission

Speech by Chairperson of the Electoral Commission Mr. Suresh Chandra for the “Briefing by the SOE, Mr. Mohammed Saneem on preparations towards the 2022 Fiji General Elections” to the International Community (via ZOOM) at 11.30am on Monday 20 September, 2021.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you are aware, we will be approaching the 2022 General Election which is scheduled to be held anytime between 9th of July 2022 to 9th of January 2023. As such, it has been part of our practice that we provide an update to the international community as important stakeholders being donor partners as well as affiliates of Fiji on the progress as well as plan in approaching the general election. Whilst this maybe very novel for some of us, it is a practice we have adopted since 2014, we feel that it is necessary considering Fiji is still a developing electoral democracy. The plan that we have in place are indicative of the actual event that will take place subject to change as when require based on the circumstances. However, overall, it is intended to give you an indication of an extend to which we will prepare for the next general election. The Electoral Commission in undertaking the supervisory role will be carrying out a thorough monitoring and compliance perform function, in doing so we will be ensuring that the activities that are necessarily required for the conduct of free and fair elections in Fiji are carried out by the team at the Fijian Elections Office with utmost care and diligence.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I also draw your attention to certain debates that are currently taking place in the media in Fiji concerning the Voter List. The Electoral Commission is in the process of carrying out an independent audit of the Voter List using preferably an international partner so as to be able to confirm that the Voter List that will be used in the 2022 general election complies as far as practicable to highest standard of accuracy. We will be working with partners, we will come forward to seek assistance from development partners so that we engage with a suitable international agency that carries out the functions of auditing the voter list so that we can assign it to that particular agency for the next general election. The Fijian Elections Office is also carrying out extensive verification works on the data in the National Register of Voters so that it is able to keep the register up to date and in confirmation with accepted international standards.

The second matter I would like to speak about ladies and gentlemen is the difference between the data maintained in the national register of voters as against the data published by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics. I agree with the Supervisor of Elections who in the recent media conference stated that the data will be different due to the different methodologies used to collect the data. As some of you may be aware this was an argument that was considered by MOG in the 2018 General Election and the MOG also appreciated that the data collection mechanisms for the census as against the National register of voters is different and therefore the numbers will also be different. The purpose is also very different, now ladies and gentlemen, the Supervisor of Elections did issue a very comprehensive statement on this and you may be able to access it on the Fijian Elections Office facebook page for further understanding.

However, as far as The Electoral Commission is concerned we unanimously agreed that the numbers of the census will be different from that of the National register of Voters and we are convinced that there are sufficient mechanisms in place by the Fijian Elections Office to ensure that there is thorough adjudication in cleaning of the voter list to ensure that the voter list is cleaned, accurate and verifiable at all times.

The third matter I wish to raise is in terms of the next General Election, the Electoral Commission welcomes opportunities to work with projects funded by donor agencies to promote free and fair elections in Fiji.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I will not take more of your time. I’m sure you are all interested in the presentation that follows as we demonstrate to you our plans for the conduct of the 2022 General Election. I would like to now handover to the Supervisor of Elections Mr Saneem for him to take you through the presentation for the planning for the 2022 General Election.

Thank you, Vinaka Vakalevu

Electoral Commission approves format for the Provisional Voter Lists

by Electoral Commission

Electoral Commission approves format for the Provisional Voter Lists

The Electoral Commission [EC] at its virtual meeting today has approved the format for the Provisional Voter List to be distributed to the Turaga-ni-Koros, Advisory Councilors and Political Parties as per Section 40 of the Electoral Act, 2014.

The Supervisor of Elections [SoE] is required under Section 40 of the Electoral Act, 2014 to publish the Provisional Voter List for each Polling Station as approved by the Electoral Commission on or before the 30th of September each year except for an Election year.

For the year 2021, the EC has approved that the format welcomes comments from the Turaga-ni-Koros and Advisory Councilors to verify the names of voters from Polling Stations in their villages or settlements.

The EC has further considered providing the copies of the Provisional Voter Lists to Political Parties. It has approved that the Provisional Voter List for Polling Stations will be given in Electronic copies for free to every registered Political Party in Fiji, so that they are able to peruse the list and provide feedback to the FEO for any corrections or issues they have identified.

The EC considers this as a very important step towards transparency as well as verifiability of the Voter Lists in the next General Election. As such, the EC urges all Political Parties to thoroughly analyze the list and present the FEO with responses so that the list that will be used in the next General Elections, is as accurate as possible.

The Chairman of the Electoral Commission, says that Political Parties are important Stakeholders in the Election and including them in processes such as the verification of the Provisional Voter List will help strengthen cooperation and ensure that information used for the next General Election is accurate and up to date.

 

-Ends-
Please forward all media queries to the FEO Communications team at communications@feo.org.fj

Statement from the Chair of The Electoral Commission

by Electoral Commission

Statement from the Chair of The Electoral Commission

Mr Suresh Chandra

The Electoral Commission welcomes the announcement by the Attorney General and the Minister responsible for Elections that the government is now considering amending the Electoral (Registration of Voters) Act 2012 as well as other consequent legislation so as to ensure the registration in the National Register of Voters is done based on records that are maintained officially at other agencies of Government.

The Electoral Commission recognizes that the right to Free and Fair elections is guaranteed under the Fijian Constitution cannot be properly executed until and unless the Voter List that is to be used in the national election is free from error, correct and the same can be verified against other relevant documents and official sources.

“To this end the Electoral Commission has always supported the Fijian Elections Office in its endeavors to match and verify details of voters against other registries in Fiji. We understand that the Court in a recent judgement has made findings which allows registration of individuals with details that may not be found directly from official sources,” said Chair,

“Whilst, we respect the decision of the Court, the Electoral Commission as the institution that is responsible for the conduct of a free and fair election in accordance with the laws of Fiji, the Electoral Commission is also concerned that the same might set a precedent where people may enroll themselves in the National Register using pseudo names and names that we are not able to verify. This may result in issues on Election Day where the names may not be found and may also result in abuse of the voter card as a universal ID when people apply for financial services and government services etc…”

The Electoral Commission is concerned about the paramount credibility of the voter register and as such the Electoral Commission welcomes and supports the current efforts by government to amend the electoral legislation to ensure that the voter list remains accurate, complete and verifiable.

The Electoral Commission will review the proposed amendment and provide its comments once it is received. 

-Ends-

Please forward all media queries to the FEO Communications team at communications@feo.org.fj

173 to be the first number on the Ballot Paper for the next General Election

by Electoral Commission

Statement from the Secretary to The Electoral Commission

Mr Mohammed Saneem

15 July 2021- 11am

173 to be the first number on the Ballot Paper for the next General Election

The Electoral Commission this morning conducted a ball draw to determine the first 3-digit number that will appear on the ballot paper for the next general election.

The number draw is pursuant to Section 36(2) (c) of the Electoral Act 2014. The Act outlines that the Electoral Commission is required to approve the first three (3) digit number of the Ballot paper for the 2022 General Election.

The event was attended by members of political parties including the Party Leader for Social Democratic Liberal Party as well as the Acting President of the Fiji Labour Party with other stakeholders tuning in to the live event.

The event was also witnessed by a Police Officer from the Fiji Police Force.

At its meeting earlier this morning, the Electoral Commission had approved that the ballot paper for the next election will start with the series 100, so the first number in the 3-digit number would be one (1) followed by two (2) digits that were drawn randomly from the barrel by the Chairperson.

The Commission members all attended the draw virtually and witnessed the event. They authorized that at the end of the draw the Chairperson would announce the three (3) digits as approved by the Commission for the next general election.

As announced by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, the first three (3) digit number to appear on the ballot paper for the 2022 General Election will be 173.

After the draw, a sample of the ballot paper with about 200 candidates for the next general election was demonstrated to political representatives that had attended as well as on the live platforms.

The next general election can be held between 9th July 2022 and 9th January 2023.

Ends.