FLP concerned about unregistered eligible voters

The Fiji Labour Party is concerned that about 20% of eligible voters have not yet been registered with elections only 9 months away.

A statement by Labour leader Mahendra Chaudhry states that according to official figures, the eligible voter population at 30th June 2013 stood at 628,000 of which 505,600 have been registered, leaving 122,400 yet to be registered.

According to Chaudhry, the highest number of unregistered voters are in the provinces of Ba, Naitasiri, Macuata and Nadroga/Navosa.

Chaudhry said the Elections Office staff are hampered in their work in the absence of a substantive Supervisor of Elections to take charge and staff morale is quite low due to uncertainties about their future and there is excessive control from the Attorney General’s office.

Chaudhry said the Elections Office had its priorities wrong and they just spent thousands of dollars on registration in New Zealand and recorded only about 500 registrations while visits are being planned for Australia, USA and Canada, at an enormous cost.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said it is unfortunate that some politicians are attempting to manipulate voter registration into a political issue and undermine the process by using false and outdated numbers to get attention for themselves.
 
Sayed-Khaiyum said more Fijians are registered to vote now than at any time in the history of our nation, thanks to the efforts of the Elections Office and the use of the new electronic voter registration system.

Sayed-Khaiyum added the registration process is more successful, transparent and precise than any before.

It is designed to avoid the anomalies and fraud that took place in past elections.

In addition, any calculation of the exact number of Fijians who have not yet registered to vote is inaccurate - at best.
 
The voter registration effort that is being conducted throughout Fiji and including the tens of thousands of Fijians living overseas is an ongoing outreach program that has received positive feedback from Fijians, our development partners and international commentators.

More than 540,000 Fijians have registered to vote in next year’s election as of last month.


Story by: Akuila Cama