Parliament has passed changes to electoral laws late last night removing the 48-hour campaign blackout, and reducing the campaign-free zone around polling stations from 300 metres to 100 metres.
Under the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2026, campaigning restrictions will apply on polling day rather than during the current 48-hour period before polling day.
The campaign boundary around polling stations will be reduced to 100 metres, or another boundary determined by the Electoral Commission.
Displaying a political party or candidate’s name, logo, symbol or acronym will not be considered campaigning within the restricted area.
Political parties, candidates and their representatives will be allowed to provide voters with free transportation directly to or from their assigned polling venue.
They may also provide free refreshments for immediate consumption during the journey or outside the 100-metre boundary, provided they do not influence or attempt to influence a person’s vote.
People who use assistive learning or speaking devices will be allowed to use them at polling stations.
Postal voting eligibility will be expanded to include voters absent from their polling station because of family or other significant commitments, as well as other grounds approved by the Electoral Commission.
The requirement for statutory declarations for postal voting will also be removed.
The Fijian Elections Office will be required to publish pre-poll schedules on its website and social media platforms and broadcast them on radio.
The Supervisor of Elections may change a pre-poll schedule because of force majeure, a request from a village or venue to postpone voting, or circumstances that delay or interrupt the deployment of election officials.
Changes must be promptly communicated to political parties, independent candidates, observers and the media.
The Supervisor of Elections will also be authorised to recount any ballot box for quality assurance, with an official recount able to overturn a previous decision by a presiding officer.
Discarded ballot papers will be included in the counting and ballot-accounting process, while provisional results will be published periodically rather than continuously during tabulation.
The Supervisor of Elections will have powers to direct a person, organisation or entity to amend or cancel an activity that does not comply with Electoral Commission Rules.
Those affected will have three days to appeal to the Electoral Commission, which must issue its decision within three days.
The changes also remove the prohibition on campaigning at educational institutions and give the Electoral Commission power to make rules relating to the conduct of a referendum.
While speaking on the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2026, Opposition MP Premila Kumar says even where no vote is openly requested, the voter might feel an obligation to the party that assisted them.
She also says Parliament is serious about increasing women’s participation in politics, we should be careful not to introduce additional campaign costs that will make it more difficult for women and other candidates with fewer resources to contest elections.
Kumar called for clear limits on the value, type and distribution of refreshments, supported by monitoring.
Minister for Lands, Filimoni Vosarogo says we should give voters more credit for their ability to make their own decisions.
Citing an example about a candidates tent filled with people but ultimately losing the election, Vosarogo says voters may attend campaign events but their vote remains private and they are free to choose whoever they want.
He says the Bill also responds to recommendations made by the Multinational Observer Group following the 2022 election.
Vosarogo says there is enough time to implement the electoral amendments before the next election, adding delaying them would mean using the current Electoral Act despite identified areas needing reform.
The Minister adds the Fijian Elections Office and the Electoral Commission have clearly stated that they remain ready to conduct the election under the provisions of the Bill.
While opposing the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures)(Amendment) Bill 2026, Kumar, and other Opposition MPs including Jone Usamate and Faiyaz Koya raised concerns about the spending limit for candidates and parties, questioning the reason for doubling the donation limit to parties to $20,000 and increasing the campaigning budget limit by $1 million.
31 MPs voted for the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2026, 10 did not vote while 10 voted against it.
The Electoral (Registration of Voters)(Amendment) Bill 2026 was passed unanimously while 30 MPs voted for the Political Parties Bill, 9 voted against, 13 did not vote and 1 MP abstained.
