Electoral Commission [EC] and Fijian Elections Office [FEO] Sign MOU with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems [IFES]

Electoral Commission [EC] and Fijian Elections Office [FEO] Sign MOU with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems [IFES]

by Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission [‘EC’] and the Fijian Elections Office [‘FEO’] signed a Memorandum of Understanding [‘MOU’] with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems [‘IFES’], a US-based international organization specializing in elections.

The agreement was signed to enhance co-operation and collaboration to develop electoral practices in Fiji as well as for the FEO to benefit from various activities of IFES in the Pacific region and the world.

IFES and the FEO have had a cordial relationship in the past and the media was trained for the previous two (2) elections by IFES directly.
This year, IFES has conducted leadership training for the FEO senior management together with development of material for media training for the 2022 General Election.

In signing the MOU, the Chairperson of the EC, Mr Mukesh Nand acknowledged the contributions of IFES to building the credibility of Fijian elections and expressed that he looked forward to better relations with IFES in terms of key objectives of elections in Fiji.

 

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Please forward all media queries to the FEO Communications team at communications@feo.org.fj

Electoral Commission conducts One-day Electoral Planning Workshop

Electoral Commission conducts One-day Electoral Planning Workshop

by Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission [EC] conducted a one-day Electoral Planning Workshop to organize itself and review all the activities for the 50 Day Writ-to-Writ period.

In attendance were the Supervisor of Elections, the Chairperson of the EC and the six (6) members of the Commission.

“It is very important for us to assess at this stage the level of planning that is involved in terms of the 50-day period and particularly to understand the tasks that need to be delivered by the EC itself under the law,” Chairperson of the EC, Mr Mukesh Nand said.

The Electoral Commissioners also took some time to assess the barrel used for the Candidate Ball Draw following the presentation by the Fijian Elections Office [FEO] Team.

“It is very interesting the way that we run Elections in Fiji and I have reviewed the presentation from the FEO in regards to key processes building up during the Writ-to-Writ period,” he said.

“I am confident that FEO will effectively carry out all these processes so that Fiji will have a free, fair and credible election in 2022.”

The workshop will conclude later this evening.

 

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For noting by the media:

  1. Please forward all media queries to the FEO Communications team at communications@feo.org.fj
  2. Earlier Press Releases and Media Statements are available on the FEO website https://www.feo.org.fj/category/press-releases/
  3. You can also obtain the latest update on FEO activities on our Facebook Page ‘Fijian Elections Office’
Australia supporting the Electoral Commission on an independent audit of the National Register of Voters

Australia supporting the Electoral Commission on an independent audit of the National Register of Voters

by Electoral Commission

Today, Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Mukesh Nand and Australian High Commissioner to Fiji John Feakes signed an agreement under which Australia will contribute FJD 258,000 to Fiji’s Electoral Commission to support the conduct of an independent audit of the National Register of Voters.  The independent audit was a recommendation of the Multinational Observer Group of the 2018 Fijian Election.

The audit, to be conducted by an independent organisation, will be scoped, commissioned, and overseen by the Electoral Commission, which is the custodian of Fiji’s National Register of Voters.  The audit will include an audit of procedures, an audit of IT systems and statistical testing to assess the quality of the voter register and voters list through the “list to voters” and/or the “people to list method”.   

Speaking at the signing ceremony, High Commissioner Feakes said “On the request of the Electoral Commission, Australia is pleased to provide a contribution to support its planned audit of the National Register of Voters. This will assist the Electoral Commission to implement a recommendation of the Multinational Observer Group of the 2018 Fijian Election.  Australia is providing funding directly to the Electoral Commission to conduct this work.  The Audit will be commissioned and managed by the Electoral Commission”. 

The Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Mukesh Nand added “The audit aims to support the Electoral Commission to make a determination on the manner in which the FEO is maintaining the Register, and where necessary provide relevant direction to the FEO to improve the manner in which the Register is kept.”

The Electoral Commission has conducted a call for expressions of interest from suitably experienced firms and expects to announce results of the procurement process shortly. 

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Use of Name on Certificate of Citizenship for Verification of Name

by Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission, having held a meeting on 17 March 2022, has approved that in cases where a voter who is a citizen of Fiji but born outside of Fiji and does not have a birth certificate from the country of birth but carries a valid Certificate of Citizenship can be registered by the Fijian Elections Office as a voter by using the name on the Certificate of Citizenship.

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Please forward all media queries to the FEO Communications team at communications@feo.org.fj

Commencement of Campaign Period

by Electoral Commission

In accordance with Section 109A of the Electoral Act 2014, the Electoral Commission, following their meeting today has determined that the campaign period for the 2022 General Election shall commence on 26 April 2022 and end 48 hours prior to the date of the General Election as announced by the President.

The meeting took place this morning at the Fijian Elections Office headquarters in Toorak and in attendance were Commission Chairperson Mr Mukesh Nand and Commissioners; Mr Jawahar Lal, Ms Kavita Raniga, Ms Selina Lee Wah, Mrs Margot Jenkins, Mr Simione Naiduki and Ms Ateca Ledua.

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Please forward all media queries to the FEO Communications team at communications@feo.org.fj

Statement from the Electoral Commission

by Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission received an appeal under section 30 of the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures) Act 2013 on 24 February 2022 from HOPE (Humanity Opportunity Prosperity Equality). HOPE appealed the decision of the Registrar of Political Parties for deregistering the party.

The Electoral Commission invited HOPE leader Ms. Tupou Draunidalo and the Registrar of Political Parties on 25 February 2022 to present their submissions to the Electoral Commission.

After considering submissions from both the HOPE leader Ms. Tupou Draunidalo and the Registrar of Political Parties, the Electoral Commission made the decision to dismiss the appeal.

The decision can be accessed from the EC website: https://www.electoralcommission.org.fj/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Decision-of-the-appeal.pdf

 

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Statement from the Electoral Commission

by Electoral Commission

Members of the Electoral Commission, Mr. Simione Naiduki, Mr. Jay Lal, Mrs. Kavita Raniga, Mrs Margot Jenkins and Ms. Selina Lee Wah wish to advise members of the public, particularly Fiji Times and Mahendra Chaudhary of FLP that the Electoral Commission continues to operate and discharge its roles and functions under the Fijian Constitution and Electoral laws.

We therefore correct claims by Mahendra Chaudhry when he said in today’s Fiji Times that due to the absence of a Chair, the EC is not operating at the moment.

Under section 5 of the Electoral Act, a quorum is formed by at least 4 members of the Commission and as such the roles and functions of EC continue to be discharged.

The EC expected Fiji Times to properly verify this information before publishing it. While the EC members work on part time basis, the FEO operates a full time secretariat headed by the SoE which could have facilitated clarifications if only Fiji Times would have checked.

The EC urges news organizations and political parties to exercise diligence when making such reports and statements.

Authorised by

Commissioners: Simione Naiduki, Jay Lal, Kavita Raniga, Margot Jenkins and Selina Lee Wah

Briefing by the SOE, Mr. Mohammed Saneem on preparations towards the 2022 Fiji General Elections

by Electoral Commission

Speech by Chairperson of the Electoral Commission Mr. Suresh Chandra for the “Briefing by the SOE, Mr. Mohammed Saneem on preparations towards the 2022 Fiji General Elections” to the International Community (via ZOOM) at 11.30am on Monday 20 September, 2021.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you are aware, we will be approaching the 2022 General Election which is scheduled to be held anytime between 9th of July 2022 to 9th of January 2023. As such, it has been part of our practice that we provide an update to the international community as important stakeholders being donor partners as well as affiliates of Fiji on the progress as well as plan in approaching the general election. Whilst this maybe very novel for some of us, it is a practice we have adopted since 2014, we feel that it is necessary considering Fiji is still a developing electoral democracy. The plan that we have in place are indicative of the actual event that will take place subject to change as when require based on the circumstances. However, overall, it is intended to give you an indication of an extend to which we will prepare for the next general election. The Electoral Commission in undertaking the supervisory role will be carrying out a thorough monitoring and compliance perform function, in doing so we will be ensuring that the activities that are necessarily required for the conduct of free and fair elections in Fiji are carried out by the team at the Fijian Elections Office with utmost care and diligence.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I also draw your attention to certain debates that are currently taking place in the media in Fiji concerning the Voter List. The Electoral Commission is in the process of carrying out an independent audit of the Voter List using preferably an international partner so as to be able to confirm that the Voter List that will be used in the 2022 general election complies as far as practicable to highest standard of accuracy. We will be working with partners, we will come forward to seek assistance from development partners so that we engage with a suitable international agency that carries out the functions of auditing the voter list so that we can assign it to that particular agency for the next general election. The Fijian Elections Office is also carrying out extensive verification works on the data in the National Register of Voters so that it is able to keep the register up to date and in confirmation with accepted international standards.

The second matter I would like to speak about ladies and gentlemen is the difference between the data maintained in the national register of voters as against the data published by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics. I agree with the Supervisor of Elections who in the recent media conference stated that the data will be different due to the different methodologies used to collect the data. As some of you may be aware this was an argument that was considered by MOG in the 2018 General Election and the MOG also appreciated that the data collection mechanisms for the census as against the National register of voters is different and therefore the numbers will also be different. The purpose is also very different, now ladies and gentlemen, the Supervisor of Elections did issue a very comprehensive statement on this and you may be able to access it on the Fijian Elections Office facebook page for further understanding.

However, as far as The Electoral Commission is concerned we unanimously agreed that the numbers of the census will be different from that of the National register of Voters and we are convinced that there are sufficient mechanisms in place by the Fijian Elections Office to ensure that there is thorough adjudication in cleaning of the voter list to ensure that the voter list is cleaned, accurate and verifiable at all times.

The third matter I wish to raise is in terms of the next General Election, the Electoral Commission welcomes opportunities to work with projects funded by donor agencies to promote free and fair elections in Fiji.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I will not take more of your time. I’m sure you are all interested in the presentation that follows as we demonstrate to you our plans for the conduct of the 2022 General Election. I would like to now handover to the Supervisor of Elections Mr Saneem for him to take you through the presentation for the planning for the 2022 General Election.

Thank you, Vinaka Vakalevu

Electoral Commission approves format for the Provisional Voter Lists

by Electoral Commission

Electoral Commission approves format for the Provisional Voter Lists

The Electoral Commission [EC] at its virtual meeting today has approved the format for the Provisional Voter List to be distributed to the Turaga-ni-Koros, Advisory Councilors and Political Parties as per Section 40 of the Electoral Act, 2014.

The Supervisor of Elections [SoE] is required under Section 40 of the Electoral Act, 2014 to publish the Provisional Voter List for each Polling Station as approved by the Electoral Commission on or before the 30th of September each year except for an Election year.

For the year 2021, the EC has approved that the format welcomes comments from the Turaga-ni-Koros and Advisory Councilors to verify the names of voters from Polling Stations in their villages or settlements.

The EC has further considered providing the copies of the Provisional Voter Lists to Political Parties. It has approved that the Provisional Voter List for Polling Stations will be given in Electronic copies for free to every registered Political Party in Fiji, so that they are able to peruse the list and provide feedback to the FEO for any corrections or issues they have identified.

The EC considers this as a very important step towards transparency as well as verifiability of the Voter Lists in the next General Election. As such, the EC urges all Political Parties to thoroughly analyze the list and present the FEO with responses so that the list that will be used in the next General Elections, is as accurate as possible.

The Chairman of the Electoral Commission, says that Political Parties are important Stakeholders in the Election and including them in processes such as the verification of the Provisional Voter List will help strengthen cooperation and ensure that information used for the next General Election is accurate and up to date.

 

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Please forward all media queries to the FEO Communications team at communications@feo.org.fj