Youth tells SOE they are never eager to vote as they are forgotten once the people get into power

A youth has told Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem why they are never eager to vote in the General Elections, highlighting that they are forgotten once the people get into power.

While speaking at the Your Vote Matters Intergenerational Panel Talanoa at USP, the youth told Saneem that what he has observed is that this year’s elections has been compared to the past elections and never once looked into the future to tell them what this election will give them.

He says that is why they have never been eager to vote and as they know its an option and questioned what will the Fijian Elections Office do about it.

While responding to the youth, Saneem says the Fijian Elections Office is independent and the questions are best posed to people speaking at political party rallies.

Saneem says they only run the elections but the policies and outcomes are not decided by them.

He adds their job is to deliver the results based on the votes that have been cast and they independently do that.

Saneem says the people’s role is to hold the politicians accountable for their promises.

The voter turnout survey which was carried out after the 2018 general elections found the age group of 21 to 30 years old constituted the highest percentage of registered voters for any age group but they had the lowest turnout.