The Fijian Elections Office (FEO) and the Commonwealth Secretariat hosted the Commonwealth Electoral Network (CEN) Working Group meeting at the Grand Pacific Hotel (GPH) in Suva on Wednesday and Thursday.
The discussions during the two-‐day meeting focused on the topic ‘Impact of New Media on Elections’.
The meeting included participants from Australia, Vanuatu, Barbados, South Africa, Nigeria, the Commonwealth Secretariat and Fiji.
“This is the first time a CEN meeting is being held in Fiji and on such an important matter that EMB’s are now dealing with,” Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem said.
During the meeting, participants identified the best practices on the use of new media and how an electoral management body (EMB) could strengthen implementation programmes like legal framework, voter education, operations on Election Day and results dissemination using new media platform.
“In the case of Fiji’s 2014 General Election, the FEO actively disseminated information via its Facebook and Twitter accounts and saw its Facebook page rise from 600 likes in January 2014 to 25,000 plus -by September 2014,” Mr Saneem said.
The FEO’s goal in its five-year strategic plan is to be recognised as a reputable and professional electoral management body in advocating electoral best practices at national, regional and international levels.