Opening Speech by Electoral Commission Chairperson Mukesh Nand. 

30 March 2022 

Stakeholders Forum on Enhancing Voter Participation

Matua Conference Room at Grand Pacific Hotel

Bula Vinaka ladies and gentlemen

Welcome to the Forum on enhancing voter participation in Fiji. 

Today, I am keen to join you as we talk about this absolutely critical subject. A subject that delves on the creation of access, the creation of an environment that is enabling, creation of the opportunity as well as the creation of the desire to vote. 

Standing here in 2022, I would not want to start by defending the right to vote but instead, promote the right to vote that has been earned through years of struggle and hardship by many all around the world. Rather, in today’s age, one may even say it is being handed on a silver platter. Have we started to take it for granted? 

I find the words of Susan Anthony, a women’s rights activist in the early 20th century, as the most fitting to derive purpose to our discussions today. She said and I quote 

“Someone struggled for your right to vote. Use it.” 

unquote

Fiji, as we all know, has transitioned from a compulsory voting jurisdiction to one where voting is voluntary. This changes the dynamics significantly. Previously, if a person did not vote, they were subject to a fine and other penalties. This created a certain level of compellation for a person to go out and vote. Despite there being lesser number of polling stations, and numerous complications as reported about earlier elections, there remained a high percentage in terms of turnout.

The 2013 Constitution introduced Fiji to a new electoral system. Under this system, the voting age was reduced to 18 years. The ethnic based constituencies of the past were removed and the entire country was consolidated into a single national constituency. Election would now take place on a designated election day with pre-polling in remote areas instead of 7 days of voting as in the past. The 2014 Electoral Act made it a requirement that a voter can only vote where they are listed in the Voter List and not anywhere as was the case before. Voting was no longer compulsory. There are no fines for not voting.

The election in 2014 is termed a ‘transitional’ election and as is the trend in a transitional election, the turnout was very high, over 84%. Thereafter, the next election that followed was the 2018 General Election that saw a turnout of 72.9%. There is an election coming up in 2022 and it is prudent that we all, as a collective, review and organize ourselves so that we can drive the voluntary turnout to higher than 2018. This is the ideal desire as essential stakeholders gather today.

I have taken the liberty to read through the 2018 General Election Voter Turnout and Survey Reports. A quick look at the voter turnout data and one can already see the trends in Fiji comparable to other countries with voluntary voting. It is very encouraging to note that more women voted in the last election compared to men. I am particularly worried about the lower turnout in the 18-30 year old population range. 

Furthermore, I found the responses to the post election survey on the question “how much interest do you have in politics?” to be even more fascinating. In 2020, when the survey was done, 21.62% percent of the respondents had no interest in politics. When the same question was asked in 2022 during the pre-election survey, the number had changed to 26%. These numbers may seem quite subtle, but they give this forum today a crucial lead in terms of the work that lies ahead for all of us.

Ladies and gentlemen, in this room here today, we all must put aside our political proclivities and work towards achieving a common goal. The work we do here today may not be recorded with the glamourous pen in our history books but it will certainly join millions of battles fought in the background that shaped the future of our country.

I am advised that the forum is being attended by political parties, members of the civil society, youths, the team from the Fijian Elections Office, academia as well as interested individuals who applied through an expression of interest. This is a very good mix for us to start the discussion. I would like to commend the Supervisor of Elections for coming up with the idea. 

The Electoral Commission is responsible for the conduct of free and fair elections in accordance with the laws and we will work hard to ensure that the 2022 General Election becomes the platform where all Fijians can vote with confidence, security and freedom.

I end with the powerful words of former US President, Barrack Obama. He said and I quote:

“There’s no such thing as a vote that doesn’t matter. It all matters.”

Thank You. 

Vinaka Vakalevu

Dhanyavad. 

Meeting with Political Parties

18 March 2022 at 2pm

FEO Conference Room

Bula Vinaka ladies and gentlemen,

I thank you so much for attending this meeting.

I am here on behalf of the Electoral Commission and on the invitation of the Supervisor of Elections, I have agreed to join this meeting and co-chair with the Supervisor of Elections.

First and foremost, may I take this opportunity to once again, reintroduce myself, my name is Mukesh Nand and I am a legal practitioner. I have been practicing in Suva for over 18 years. And I am very very privileged and honored to be undertaking this role, as we go towards the 2022 election.

Ladies and gentlemen, as you are all aware, since I have just started recently, I am still in the process of understanding and getting familiar with the processes in elections.

But so far from what I have seen, I am confident that the process is directly similar to the 2018 process and based on the findings of the Observers in the 2018 General Election, I am confident that the planning and the preparations for this election are on par to deliver another fair and credible election, proudly representing the will of the Fijian people in accordance with the law. The Electoral Commission fully supports the activities of the Fijian Elections Office in this regard.

Ladies and gentlemen, I will be very much interested to see the demonstration by the Fijian Elections Office to the political party today, as I am of the view that it is absolutely necessary for the Fijian Elections Office to demonstrate various aspects of its election processes so that political parties and ordinary members of the public are able to visualize it, understand it and at the same time build ownership around it.

I want to also add another point to the discussion, ladies and gentlemen, and that is to do with misinformation. The Electoral Commission has lately noticed that there is a series of publications which contain several misinformation and we would like to just remind political parties to ensure that when they publish about elections, they publish information that is accurate and reliable. So that it does not end up being a misinformation and misleads voters.

The General Election is a process in which we are all stakeholders and it is necessary that we respect each other and we respect the process so as to allow it to realize people’s constitutional right in the running of the country.

Ladies and Gentlemen, that is my advice to you all and I would like to hand over to the Supervisor of Elections to continue the meeting. I will be present in the meeting. Should you need any clarification from the Electoral Commission in any regard.

Thank you

Vinaka Vakalevu

Dhanyavad

Statement by Electoral Commissioner

Mr Mukesh Nand

Know Your Election[KYE] Awareness Campaign for 2022 General Election

8 March 2022

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Ni sa Bula Vinaka and a very warm welcome to you all here today.

It is indeed a great honor and pleasure for me to visit you here in the beautiful island of Ovalau. This also happens to be my first official visit to a voter registration and awareness venue since the 2022 General Election Nationwide Voter Registration and Education drive began.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the current program is essential for the next general election. We want every eligible person to be able to register if they haven’t yet and we also want every Fijian voter to have the most latest VoterCard.

Registration is the first step towards the guarantee that you can vote in the next general election. In Fiji, you can only vote in the polling station in which you name is in the voter list. This means that when you register or upgrade your card today, check the name of the Polling Venue very carefully on your VoterCard.

I am in full agreement with the 2018 Electoral Commission when they recommended to upgrade the VoterCard to include the Polling venue details on it. This is simply because in our electoral system, you must know your polling venue in-order to vote. This is an important piece of information that one would expect on their VoterCard – which is now directly printed on the card .

For any election, Voters are our most important stakeholders as they hold the key on Election Day when they exercise their right to vote. Voters need to be educated about the electoral process to help them become an informed voter.

I hope that the awareness session that the Supervisor of Elections will conduct next will provide you with essential information that will help you to better understand the electoral system. We believe that the more information you have on the electoral process, the greater your sense of ownership will be. Ultimately, the electoral process is for the ordinary voter.

Thank you for having me here and I hand over to the Supervisor of Elections.

Vinaka

Statement by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission

Nationwide Voter Registration Drive and the Know Your Election Campaign Launch

The Grand Pacific Hotel

Suva

25 February 2022

Your Excellency, The President of the Republic of Fiji,
Hon Speaker of Parliament,
Fellow Electoral Commission members,
Members of the Diplomatic Corp,
Acting Prime Minister,
Distinguished Invited Guest,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

Ni sa Bula Vinaka and a very good morning to you all.

This morning, it is my honor and privilege to take this stage in my first act as Chairperson of the Electoral Commission. I am indeed humbled to receive such appointment and I wish to thank the Constitutional Offices Commission and His Excellency for your trust and faith in me to undertake this role.

Your Excellency, I also take this opportunity to welcome you to this event. On behalf of the Electoral Commission, the Supervisor of Elections and the Fijian Elections Office, I convey our heartiest thanks to you for accepting the invite to launch this important event of great national interest.

The Electoral Commission, under section 75 of the Constitution, is responsible for the conduct of free and fair elections in accordance with written law governing elections in Fiji. The Electoral Commission will follow the law as it is – and that is our prescribed role in the Constitution. Under section 75(2)(b) of the Constitution, the Electoral Commission is also responsible for voter education.

Today’s event will mark the commencement of the nationwide voter awareness campaign called ‘Know Your Election’ and the Nationwide Voter Registration Drive for the 2022 General Election. These essential election preparation programs will run concurrently from today until the 2^nd of April 2022.

As we are all aware, the electoral system in Fiji does not provide for a fixed date for the conduct of the General Election. Instead, the election can be called any time from the 9th of July 2022 till the 9th of January 2023. While we do not know the date of election yet, we want to be prepared and we want the voters to be able to access basic information on the General Election.

Voter education is a major contribution to electoral integrity and voter confidence. The ‘Know Your Election’ campaign will disseminate consistent, balanced, non-partisan and objective information on what voters need to know in order to exercise their right to vote.

The Fijian Elections Office has produced the Election Information Booklet which provides information on voters’ rights and obligations in the electoral process and explains the importance of the process of voting. It also has essential information for voters in terms of campaign and source of credible information on election.

Voters need to be educated about the electoral process to help them become an informed voter and every Fijian Voter should have at least perused through one Election Information Booklet before they reach the polling station.Personally, I am looking forward to overseeing the conduct of this national exercise. I have been briefed about the extensive plans by the Fijian Elections Office and I wish all of the staff the very best in their tasks. I have just joined the Electoral Commission and I certainly look forward to my overall roles and responsibilities. I look forward to working with my fellow Commission members, the Supervisor of Elections, the Fijian Elections Office and other stakeholders in delivering the 2022 General Election. Together, we will work hard to ensure that every Fijian is able to cast his/her vote with confidence, security and freedom.

Thank you, Vinaka Vakalevu and Dhanyabadh.

-Ends-