More roundtable discussions should be conducted to stop conflicting messages about electoral process - Maharaj

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights has recommended to the Electoral Commission and Supervisor of Elections that more roundtable discussions should be conducted by them and all key stakeholders pertaining to the electoral system so that conflicting messages regarding election processes are not spread to the public by relevant stakeholders, especially by political parties and candidates.

Chairperson, Alvick Maharaj says they have also recommended that it should be mandatory for all candidates to take part in the electoral process training conducted by the Electoral Commission and the Fijian Elections Office.

Maharaj says they have also proposed that more civic education be conducted in schools and communities.

The Committee has also recommended that the boxes to be ticked in the ballot paper should be slightly increased to best fit the ballot paper.

While tabling the 2018 Bipartisan General Elections Joint Report by the Electoral Commission and the Supervisor of Elections, Maharaj stated that some of the main matters highlighted through submissions by the public in the 2018 General Election Report was for Fiji's Electoral Management Body to collaborate with Civil Society Organisations when conducting voter awareness and education initiatives for voters.

He says it was also suggested that Fiji’s Electoral Management Body considers that more is to be done to assist voters to identify candidates when in the polling booth.

Maharaj says the committee has found that the Electoral Commission and the Supervisor of Elections are in the process of revamping their awareness strategy to include closer collaboration with grassroot non governmental organisations.

He also highlighted that out of 21 recommendations by the Multinational Observer Group after 2018 general elections, 14 have been accepted and will be implemented by the Electoral Commission and the Supervisor of Elections.

He says seven recommendations were not directed to the Electoral Commission and the Supervisor of Elections because they did not have jurisdictions to either accept or reject these recommendations.

He further adds that seven recommendations from the 2014 general elections have been given due consideration that were not considered initially as at that point in time it was too early to determine whether the changes were necessary.