The ink to be put on a voter’s finger on election day has been donated by the Indian High Commission to the Fijian Elections Office this morning.
Electoral Commission Chairman, Mukesh Nand says the High Commission donated 5,500 bottles of indelible ink worth $330,000.
He says this is the third election in which India has donated ink for the elections.
Nand says the indelible ink is a critical element of the voting process because it serves as a confirmation of a vote and verifies and ensures a person is able to vote once therefore helping uphold the principle of one person, one vote, one value.
He further says the announcement of election date is imminent and this is one step closer to delivering a free and fair election.
Indian High Commissioner to Fiji Palaniswamy Subramanyan Karthigeyan says they have also been providing lots of capacity building assistance to the FEO to make sure the best practices are shared and skill upgrading that is critical in managing important democratic process throughout the year.
He says they will continue to provide the assistance.
Meanwhile, the Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem says the ink was manufactured by a Government of Karnataka certified company on the 22nd of September and is valid until the 23rd of January.
He says they will sending two bottles of the ink to each polling venue.
