The Fijian Elections Office is ready for elections, says the Electoral Commission chair Mukesh Nand.

Mr Nand made this comment after the Prime Minister, Voreqe Baini­marama, visited the President, Ratu Wiliame Katonivere, to advise him that the election will take place on December 14.

In a press conference yesterday, Mr Nand said the Fijian Elections Office had concluded all its election preparation activities.

“The Electoral Commission under section 45 of the Constitution is responsible for the conduct of the elections,” he said.

“On the day of the writ of the 2022 General Elections will be issued, the Fijian Elections Office will com­plete voter registration.”

He said the Fijian Elections Office was on track in terms of staffing and resources.

Postal voting applications now open

With the announcement of the date of the General Elections, Mr Nand said postal voting was now open. He said every registered voter liv­ing overseas would be required to apply for a postal vote. He said application forms for the postal votes could be accessed on servicesjeo.org.fj.

Supervisor of Elections Moham­med Saneem said the Fijian Elec­tions Office was now accepting postal vote’s application, according to section 67(2) of the Electoral Act.

Mr Saneem said postal voters must be a registered voter, living outside Fiji or would be outside of the country on election day. “This would apply to all seasonal workers who you have been enquir­ing from the beginning of the year,” Mr Saneem said.

“Also, postal voting applies to those who will not be travelling to polling stations due to a serious illness, religious belief and work commitments or sentences of im­prisonment. “The Fijian Elections Office antic­ipates those that are working under essential services like the tourism industry and aged care facility or any other sector.

“They will not be able to leave their workplaces on election day, these individuals can apply to vote on a postal ballot.”

Since the beginning of the year, Mr Saneem said the FEO had been conducting several awareness ses­sions with human resource teams from essential services sectors.

“They could do awareness with their own staff regarding postal voting. You can apply postal voting in two ways,” he said.

“You can get the postal voting ap­plication form from any of our of­fices, fill out the necessary details and drop it with us. The form is attached at the back of the election information booklet. “Other alternative is that you can download the form from voterser­vicesjeo.orgjj, you will need to fill it out and upload it in the same platform with a copy of your voter card.”

For Fijians living overseas, Mr Saneem said they could use their green or blue voter cards.

“If you are overseas and have not updated your identification card, you can use the voter card that you were initially registered with,” he said.

“It is important to note that only names on the published forms will be processed. We will not be entertaining any letters, requests, emails or forms that have not been approved by the Electoral Commission.”

Before voters send in the postal application forms, Mr Saneem said voters must ensure that they had filled all the required details cor­rectly to avoid any delays in receiv­ing their postal voting packages.

“Please ensure that your form is witnessed by the correct authority and that you provide us with the latest and most current address for delivery of the Postal Voting Pack­age by either DHL or EMS,” he said.

Postal voting applications closes at 5pm on November 23, 2022. The Fijian Elections Office will not ac­cept any late applications.

Last Minute Registration

Any Fijian who will turn 18 before the Writ of the Election is issued to­day can still get registered, but the deadline is 6pm. “If you still have not registered, this is your opportunity to do so,” Mr Nand said.

The registration of political par­ties also ceases today after the Writ of the Elections is issued. “Following the issue of the writ, the Fijian Elections Office will pub­lish a timeline of the important dates for all Fijians to know,” he said.

However, Mr Saneem said voters who needed to change their resi­dential address or upgrade their voter cards were urged to make their way to the nearest Voter Reg­istration Centre (See pages Band 7).

“The schedules will be posted on the Fijian Elections Office Facebook page,” he said.

“We understand that now there will be a huge queue due to the big last minute rush, but at this stage, it would be wise for me to say that the registration teams have been out there since October 2021.

“If you are rushing today, I hope that you are able to make it on time to upgrade to the latest voter card, so when it comes to voting on elec­tion day, it is very convenient for you.”

Polling Stations

Mr Nand said the 855 polling sta­tions around the country would open from 7.30am to 6pm on Decem­ber 14, 2022. “As of today, the Fijian Elections Office expects to operate 855 elec­tion day polling venues and 613 pre polling venues around the country, by employing 7541 staff,” he said.

“We have successfully completed the training of election officials, media and political parties. We have also completed the know your election voter awareness drive. “The Fijian Elections Office has also opened the 1500 free helpline where voters can call to make basic enquiries such as the location of their polling venue.

“The Electoral Commission would like to ask you whether you know where your polling venue is and if yes, help a friend find there’s by tex­ting their voter number to 1500. “Do you have a voter card or any other valid photo identification card, if yes, you can help another voter by keeping their voter identi­fication card intact.”

He said voters could visit the web­site www.feo.org.fj to learn how to vote.

“We are optimistic that this year’s election will set a new benchmark,” he said. “It is important for all voters to exercise their democratic rights and come out to vote in this year’s election.”

Latest Statistics

As of October 28, there are 692,918 registered voters. Of this, Mr Saneem said 612,794 would vote on election day while 79,124 would vote on pre-polling. “If you have moved or changed your residential address, this is your last chance to update your ad­dress with us so we can assign you to a Polling Venue that is near your home,” Mr Saneem said.

“If you are not able to have it changed before the Writ is issued, then ladies and gentlemen, that will be the Venue where you will be voting. “For those of you who may not be able to reach your assigned polling venue, you may apply for postal vot­ing.”

Candidate Nomination

Following the issue of the writ, Mr Nand said the candidate nomina­tions would also open. He said the last day for filing nom­ination for political parties was 12pm on November 14, 2022. “Any person who wishes to with­draw their nominations, they must do so by 12pm the next day,” he said.

Media

From 12noon today, only accred­ited media officials will be allowed to attend the Fijian Elections Office press conferences. Mr Saneem said yesterday, the Fi­jian Elections Office had accredited 130 media officials.

“Those media organisations that have yet to apply for its accredita­tions, need to speed things up. We have a 12pm press conference today, it will only be attended by accred­ited media.”

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