Supervisor of Elections holds meeting with political parties

As part of the rollout of activities for the 2022 general election, Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem held a meeting today with the FijiFirst, SODELPA, National Federation Party, Unity Fiji and The People’s Alliance.

Saneem took the parties through a comprehensive preparation plan for the next general election during a virtual meeting following which parties were also provided with electronic copies of the Provisional Voter List for inspection and verification.

He says going forward this is a consultative approach that the FEO has taken with political parties to ensure all stakeholders are on the same page in terms of the Voter List having worked on it together.

Saneem says the Provisional List for polling stations has been given for free and now the parties must peruse the list and report any inaccuracies to the FEO.

The parties will check and verify information such as the Polling Venue Name, Polling Venue Code, Polling Station code, Area Name, Division, Surname, First Name and Gender and report to the FEO on any issues they may find.

Saneem says the Voter List is one of the most important elements of an election as it contains the final list of voters who will be able to cast a ballot and as such it is imperative that during the preparation phase, the list is consistently verified to ensure its accuracy and correctness and where possible published so that it can be scrutinized before the list is finalized for the next general election.

The Supervisor of Elections is required under Section 40 of the Electoral Act 2014 to publish the Provisional Voter List for each Polling Station as approved by the Electoral Commission on or before the 30th of September each year except for an election year.

The political parties have been given until 30th November 2021 to inspect the list and provide feedback.