Open List Voting System Recommended

The draft People's Charter has recommended an Open List Voting System based on Proportional Representation.

This new system will see the country divided into just a few large constituencies, each having multiple members.

The number of members elected to represent each constituency will depend on the number of registered voters residing in a particular constituency.

The proposal states that the number of seats held by a party in parliament will approximately correspond to the proportion of the total vote that party received in the election.

Under the proposed electoral system, seats are determined according to the percentage of the total votes received.

So in a 5 member constituency, the party getting 60 percent of the vote gets 3 seats and the party with 40 percent of the vote wins 2 seats.

Under the current system, a party with 40 percent of votes gets no parliamentary seats as the candidate has to secure over 50 percent of the vote in a constituency.

The National Council For Building A Better Fiji (NCBBF) said the Open List Voting System will more accurately reflect the will of the people of Fiji.

On to voting under this system, to cast a vote under the Open List System, the voter needs to place a tick beside the candidate of their choice.

The ballot paper will list all candidates of the parties that are contesting the general election in a particular constituency.

On to the counting of votes under this proposed Voting System, first, the total number of votes received by each individual candidate is counted.

Following this the total number of votes received by each party is assessed using a standard formula to determine who has won seats.

Major awareness campaigns are expected to be held soon on the proposed voting system.