Fijian Elections Office does not have any engagements with NADRA Pakistan - Saneem

Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem stresses that the Fijian Elections Office does not have any engagements with NADRA Pakistan.

Saneem says NADRA Pakistan has never been in Fiji and in fact, the Fijian Elections Office finds that the bringing up of this matter from 2017 and 2018 as an attempt to once again discredit the Fijian election management body.

Saneem also says under the Fijian Constitution, every citizen who has reached the age of 18 years has the right to be a registered voter and to vote by secret ballot in any election or referendum under the Constitution.

He says it is clearly stated that the Members of Parliament shall be chosen by secret ballot.

While responding to calls made by some parties to have serial numbers on ballot papers, Saneem says the secrecy is an absolute concept, and the ballot is either secret or not. He says by having serial numbers on the ballot paper, people will be able to know how a voter had cast his or her vote.

He also says the stubs from the ballot paper books are accounted for after the elections. The ballot paper books have the serial numbers however there are no serial numbers on the ballot papers to ensure the secrecy of the vote is protected.