The Electoral Commission at its meeting held today, deliberated on opinion polls published for the 2022 General Election. The Electoral Commission has also been appraised of a recent complaint received regarding public opinion poll being published by a certain media house.
“Currently, there are no specific guidelines on public opinion polls in an election in Fiji, but despite this, the Commission has noted that media organizations publish public opinion polls” explains Mr. Mukesh Nand, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission.
The Electoral Commission noted that both Australia and New Zealand have guiding documents on public opinion polls and these documents provide comprehensive instructions and expectations on public opinion poll processes. However, the combined guidelines published by European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR) and World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) is more appropriate for Fiji.
“Having considered the nature of the impact of opinion polls and the international standards around public opinion polls, particularly in relation to elections, we have decided that we will adopt for the purposes of evaluating opinion polls published in Fiji, the opinion poll guidelines published by ESOMAR/WAPOR”, said Mr Mukesh Nand, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission.
The Electoral Commission will be publishing the opinion poll guidelines as well as the key requirements in relation to election opinion polling developed by ESOMAR/WAPOR on its website as well as the Fijian Election Office social media and website pages to enable all interested agencies to refer to and adequately comply with our expectation when it comes to opinion polling for the 2022 General Election.
The Supervisor of Elections will also rely on these guidelines for his monitoring of the compliance with the Electoral Act.
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