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 9^th July 2022 and 9^th January 2023.

Ends.

2018 General Election Joint Report Handover

The Electoral Commission [EC] and the Supervisor of Elections [SoE] have handed in their Joint Report on the 2018 General Election to the President of the Republic of Fiji, Major General [Ret’d], Jioji Konousi Konrote, this morning. The Joint Report annexes the Final Report of the Supervisor of Elections as well as the MOG Report on the 2018 General Election.

Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mr Suresh Chandra, said that the handing in of the report that contains extensive commentary on the procedural aspects of the process as well as details of actual activities during the election completes the Commission’s task in terms of the 2018 General Election.

“We have carefully considered the SoE’s report on the conduct of the 2018 General Election, the MOG Report and its findings and recommendations, and we have thereafter considered that primarily there is a need to spread electoral activities over 4 years instead of leaving most of it to the election period,” said Mr Chandra.

Mr Chandra further explained that “with the establishment of the FEO and the Electoral Commission as long term establishments, Fiji needs to refocus some of the aspects of elections to be due and finalized 1 or 2 years prior to the first date the Writ can be issued.” He added that this would ensure that Political Parties and various other stakeholders are involved and if they wish, they can play an active role in preparing the country for the next General Election.

Supervisor of Elections, Mr Mohammed Saneem said “after two [2] successful elections based on the current framework, Fijians are now more familiar with elections and are more empowered to play an active role. A lot of the disinformation and concocted theories were debunked in the last election paving the way in building more trust and confidence in the institutions.”

Work has now begun on the preparation for the next General Election that can take place between 26 May 2022 to 9 January 2023.

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

The First number that will appear on the 2018 General
Election Ballot Paper is 508.

The First number that will appear on the 2018 General Election Ballot Paper is 508.
The Fijian Electoral Commission has approved the number 508 after a ball draw at the Head office in Suva in May this year. A blindfolded person randomly selected the numbers and the entire event was witnessed by police officers from the Fiji
Police Force and members of the Fijian Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission Chairperson, Mr Suresh Chandra confirmed that the numbers used for the 2014 General Election would not be used again. Therefore
the first number of the Ballot Paper for the 2018 General Election will be a three digit number within the 400 – 500 range.
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 2018 General Election.