The Fijian Elections Office (FEO) has officially started its preparation for the 2018 General Election.

Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem says tenders will be open for one month and all the materials would be supplied before the end of this year.

FEO will be focusing on the procurement of election materials, preparations of training manuals and guidelines, finalisation of polling materials and finalisation of polling and pre-poll venues.

It will also focus recruiting approximately 17,000 new staff members.

Mr Saneem also highlighted a few difficulties faced during the 2014 election.

FEO will be introducing the usage of transparent stencils which will be used to mark off voters and to allow voters to sign as well.

A transparent stencil has a small cut-off space for signing, and avoids a voter’s signature from spilling onto the next voter’s list.

Another stencil is provided for the marking of ballot paper.

“In 2014 there were certain occasions that the markings went outside the box which caused some issues,” he said.

“In the 2018 General Election, the FEO will only procure ballot boxes of the highest quality that conforms to acceptable UN standards. It is intended that these additional boxes will supplement our current stock.”

FEO is also seeking reputable companies who can supply Ballot Boxes with the following quantity:

 45 Litres: 500 quantity

 86 Litres: 400 quantity

“The FEO will place special emphasis on better quality numbered seals similar to those used in Australia following a review of the performance of the seals in the 2014 General Election,” he said.

Ping pong balls with printed numbers from range of 100 to 999 in two sets will be used for the national candidate list draw.

He said that the tenders would also be advertised overseas to attain the best quality against a competitive price.

Edited by Ranoba Baoa

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