Fiji prepares for first local elections in 21 years

Fijians over 18 years old who are keen to run in local Government elections can choose to stand as independent candidates. All they need are eight signatories from their ward and $200 appli­cation fee.

They can also choose to contest as candidates for po­litical parties.

To vote, Fijians must register their names in the Local Govern­ment Register of Voters but they must be already registered on the National Register of Voters.

Registered voters must have lived within their municipal ward boundary for at least three months. Both voter registration and voting are voluntary.

Stakeholders including political party representatives and the me­dia raised concerns about public frustration over the requirement to register separately.

Supervisor of Elections Ana Mata­iciwa acknowledged that the pub­lic could experience "information overload."

Registered voters are likely to get one voter card with combined de­tails of both their national and local government polling venues.

While a polling date is yet to final­ised, Ms Mataiciwa said it would take place on a Saturday in Sep­tember 2026. Early voting will take place 14 days in advance of the poll day.

She said 141 councilors will be elected across 40 wards from 13 mu­nicipal councils.

The block vote method of voting will be used and the first-past-the­post method will determine win­ners.

Ballot Paper

Voters will be issued a single bal­lot paper with candidate photo, name, symbols (if any) and indica­tion of whether they are a political party or independent candidate.

How to vote

They will be instructed to tick the number of candidates equivalent to the number of seats available for that ward.

The last local government election was held 21 years ago.