A technical blunder seems to have caused a fictitious general elections date being used for an internal training session, to be published mistakenly on the Fijian Elections Office website.
We received many calls and messages regarding this.
fijivillage News clarifies that there is no Writ of Elections issued by the President as yet.
The Fijian Elections Office has also clarified this afternoon that it is currently conducting a Writ to Return of Writ Dress Rehearsal as part of its preparations for the upcoming general election.
The dress rehearsal requires FEO staff to test, review, finalise and lock in the various processes and activities that will be undertaken from the issuance of the Writ through to the Return of the Writ.
As part of this exercise, the FEO tested its process for preparing and publishing press releases.
A mock press release on the issuance of the writ was created on the FEO website using fictitious information for the purposes of the simulation.
For the avoidance of doubt, the information contained in the mock press release, including the date stated for the general election, was entirely fictitious and created solely for the purposes of the dress rehearsal.
They stress no writ for the 2026 general election has been issued.
The FEO acknowledges that the required internal procedure for uploading test content was not followed.
The matter has since been addressed internally, and measures are being taken to ensure that test materials used during the remainder of the Dress Rehearsal are appropriately contained.
The FEO apologises for any confusion caused and assures all electoral stakeholders and more importantly members of the public that the matter has been addressed.
The Prime Minister is yet to do this.
The last day for the writ to be issued is December 24th 2026, and the last date for the general elections is February 6th 2027.
