Number of voters per polling station increased from 500 to 650 from the next general elections

The number of voters per polling station has been increased from 500 to 650 from the next general elections.

In approving the recommendation of the Fijian Elections Office, the Electoral Commission noted that the FEO had carried out a consultation with political parties as well as provided substantive information in relation to the conduct of polling at polling stations.

Commission Chairperson Suresh Chandra explained that in Fiji each polling venue could have several polling stations.

Chandra says this does not change a person’s polling venue.

He says if someone had voted at a particular school in the last general election, and if that school is still functional and the buildings are intact, they will be voting at the very same school.

The only thing is that the number of polling stations inside the school have changed.

The Commission also finds that the recommendation to increase the number of voters by 30 percent is reasonable and will not largely impact the time taken to conduct the count nor affect the normal operations of voting on election day.