EC and FEO officials participate in program for NZ general election

EC and FEO officials participate in program for NZ general election.

Officials from the Fijian Elections Office [‘FEO’] and the Electoral Commission [‘EC’] are currently participating in the Election Visitor Program [‘EVP’] for the New Zealand General Election.

The EC Chairperson Barbara Malimali stated that she was impressed with the electoral processes the New Zealand Electoral Commission (NZEC) had on display.

“It was good to see the different processes and initiatives that the NZEC incorporate in their Electoral process such as Easy Vote Cards, Special Votes for Voters outside their electorate, Advanced Voting Places in Malls, and shopping business districts,” said Ms. Malimali.

The FEO Director Corporate Services Sanjeshwar Ram also found the presentations by the NZEC very informative.

“There are certainly things we can study and learn from the NZEC to better our voter services in Fiji, the Data Analytics system the NZEC uses to monitor overall operations in particular is very interesting,” Mr. Ram stated.

The EVP which is organized by the NZEC commenced from Thursday 12, 2023 with 14 October being the election day in New Zealand. The EVP participants are from countries from around the Pacific Region namely Australia, Bougainville, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu, non-state participants are representatives from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The EVP was attended by the following officials;

1. Ms. Barbara Malimali – EC Chairperson;
2. Mr. Inoke Loganimoce – EC Member;
3. Sanjeshwar Ram – FEO Director Corporate Services.

The FEO International Relations Assistant, Eric Drodrolagi and Operations Coordinator Aseri Baivi were also seconded by the NZEC as EVP Advisors with the NZEC International Team.

The Visitor Program varies from an Election Observation mission, given that when participating in the program, participants will not report on their findings but rather use the opportunity to learn and exchange knowledge among Election Management Bodies. New Zealand does not have International Election Observers.

-Ends