Electoral Commission here to serve the people of Fiji – EC Chairperson

Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson Ms. Barbara Malimali speaking at the Commissioners’ monthly meeting last week, stated that the EC is here to serve the people of Fiji.

“We need the people of Fiji to realise that they have an Electoral Commission that is independent and that is working. If they have questions, we are here to answer them. If anybody has any issues or questions, they can come and see us, they can email us, they can call us, they can even walk into our office. We are here to serve the people of Fiji,” said Ms. Malimali.

Ms. Malimali added that in order for the EC to fulfil its Constitutional mandate, the work is ongoing and continuing, even during non-election years.

“The EC is a Constitutional Commission and we have a Constitutional mandate as per Section 75 of the Constitution. In order to meet the Constitutional mandate, such as registration of citizens as voters and voter education, a lot of work has to be done beforehand. This is why the current EC is finalising a work plan.”

“The last election was held in 2022 and the next election will be held in 2026. Between 2022 and 2026, a lot of things need to be prepared. We have to understand voter movements, we have to see how we can get the percentages up, how we can get more people to come in and vote at the next elections.”

“We’ve also heard from the Government on the Municipal Council elections anticipated in the new year. The EC has a role to play in the municipal election as well. With that said, I think it’s important that members of the public understand that the work at the EC is ongoing,” Ms. Malimali stated.

The EC Chairperson added that for the EC members to operate and achieve its goals, having regular meetings was vital.

“Having regular meetings is important for the Commission to operate and for the Commission to achieve its work, it can only be done with the Commission sitting. As it is, there is a lot of work to be done. There’s the Electoral Reform, targets to be achieved, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to be prepared and looking at ways to make voting accessible to all eligible voters.

The EC Chairperson also stated that being prepared at all times was something the Commission was moving towards.

“We have targets and we have to achieve them. At every meeting, we see whether we’re doing our work, whether our colleagues from the FEO are doing their part and how we can effectively work together to achieve the same goals and be prepared. Even though all this has to be done within a very restricted budget”.

“We have a budget and given the times we’re living in, we have to work within the budget to achieve our targets. Other than that, we have to be in a state of preparedness and to be able to serve the voting population of Fiji better, which is what the EC aims to achieve,” stated Ms. Malimali.

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Standing (L- R) – Commissioner Dr Atu Emberson-Bain, Commissioner Nalini Singh and Commissioner Ateca Ledua.
Sitting (L – R) Commissioner Inoke Dokonivalu, Commissioner Reginald Jokhan, EC Chairperson Barbara Malimali and Commissioner Nemani Mati.

Members of the Electoral Commission (EC) today met with the Minister for Local Government and Housing, Honourable Maciu Nalumisa.

The meeting which was also a short courtesy call, provided the opportunity for the EC Members to discuss the progress of the Municipal Council election preparation with the Honourable Minister.

“Given that the EC will also have a part to play in the upcoming Municipal Council election, today’s meeting with the Honourable Minister enabled us to discuss how the EC will assist in ensuring that the election is conducted accordingly,” said Ms. Malimali.

Ms. Malimali added that the EC will be working closely with the Ministry towards the build-up of the 2024 Municipal Council election and those that follow.

“The EC will be conducting more consultation with the Ministry with regards to the plans and timeline prepared for other upcoming Municipal Council elections,” Ms. Malimali stated.

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An Induction Workshop for members of the Electoral Commission (EC) started today.

In opening the Workshop, EC Chairperson Barbara Malimali welcomed the members and stated that the Commission now had the full complement of Commissioners, with the appointment of Dr. Atu Emberson-Bain.

In addition, Ms. Malimali also emphasised the important role the EC had ahead of them.

“As EC members, it is crucial that we align ourselves to our roles stipulated under Section 75 of the Constitution. Hence, I am confident that over the course of this Workshop, we will be able to do just that,” said Ms. Malimali.

The EC Chairperson added that as appointees of the President of the Republic of Fiji, it was also important to know what their duties were and ensuring that they are executed accordingly.

“Knowing our duties as appointees of the President and seeing that they are implemented accordingly is also important. Therefore, as members of the EC, we are committed to working collectively to best serve the interests of all Fijians,” Ms. Malimali stated.

Ms. Malimali also thanked the New Zealand Electoral Commission (NZEC) for facilitating the Workshop.

“We are truly thankful to the NZEC for facilitating this induction workshop and we look forward to more collaboration in the near future,” said Ms. Malimali.

The Induction Workshop is expected to conclude on Wednesday 16 th August, 2023.

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Members of the Electoral Commission (EC) met earlier this week and successfully made several resolutions.

The meeting which was a working meeting was attended by all the Commissioners. EC Acting Chairperson Barbara Malimali said the meeting was constructive and fruitful.

“Our meeting was fruitful and we were able to make several resolutions. As EC members, it’s important that we ensure resolutions are made accordingly and without delay,” said Ms. Malimali.

Ms. Malimali added that with the working meeting, the EC is moving forward with what is required of them under the Law.

“With this working meeting and given that most of the Commissioners are new, we can assure our Fijian voters that we are moving forward with the work of the Commission and will perform our duties to the best of our ability,” Ms. Malimali stated.

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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. You can also obtain the latest update on FEO activities on our Facebook Page ‘Fijian Elections Office’

The newly appointed members of the Electoral Commission [‘EC’] as well as Commissioner Ateca Ledua held their first official meeting today 12 July 2023. The meeting was chaired by the Interim Chairperson of the EC Ms. Barbara Malimali.

The EC meeting today was focused with the filling of the vacant seats in parliament. The EC has resolved to appoint Mr. Sachida Nand to fill the first vacant seat. The EC is currently undertaking the background check on the next candidate to fill the remaining seat. The Interim Chairperson of the EC Ms. Barbara Malimali was happy with the meeting and the decisions the EC was able to undertake today.

“I am happy with the decisions we have been able to make today, particularly to the fact that the EC is at the moment gender balanced and made up of members from diverse backgrounds, experience and shared values in good governance,” said Ms. Malimali.

Ms. Malimali further stated that the EC has decided on sitting dates and looks forward to their induction workshop and dealing with the outstanding matters.

“We have decided on sitting dates and we are looking forward to having our induction workshop and dealing with outstanding matters before the Commission,” said Ms. Malimali.

The EC members are:

Ms. Barbara Malimali – Interim Chairperson
Commissioner Ateca Ledua – EC Member
Commissioner Nalini Singh – EC Member
Commissioner Reginald Jokhan – EC Member
Commissioner Ratu Inoke Dokonivalu Loganimoce – EC Member
Commissioner Nemani Mati – EC Member

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Commissioner Reginald Jokhan

(From Left to Right) Commissioner Ratu Inoke Dokonivalu Loganimoce, Interim Chairperson Ms. Barbara Malimali, Commissioner Nalini Singh, Commissioner Ateca Ledua and Commissioner Nemani Mati

For noting by the media:

1. Please forward all media queries to the FEO Communications team at communications@feo.org.fj
2. You can also obtain the latest update on FEO activities on our Facebook Page ‘Fijian Elections Office’

The Electoral Commission [“Commission”] has been receiving complaints from a number of individuals demanding for manual counting of the votes for the 2022 General Election. 

The Commission has taken note of the contents of the complaints and hereby ensures all registered voters that the counting of votes is being done manually. This was also addressed by the Supervisor of Elections recently in his statement to the media that counting of ballot papers is done manually.

The Commission further notes that these are complaints and comments made in regards to the anomaly in the FEO Results App. The Commission hereby confirms that the FEO Results App is not used to count votes but is used to upload the data after the protocol of results is entered in the Result Management Information System (RMIS).

The anomaly in the FEO Results App has been rectified and the Final Result are now being published with the correct data.

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The Electoral Commission [‘EC’] received a total of 10 appeals and two (2) objections to nominations  approved by the Supervisor of Elections [‘SoE’] for the 2022 General Election.  

The EC notes that for the purposes of an objection to a nomination, a person is required to comply  with Section 30 of the Electoral Act 2014 which states:  

30(1) A person who is a registered voter may object to the nomination of any candidate on the  ground that the nomination of the candidate as an independent candidate or as a party candidate  on a party list does not comply with the requirements of the Constitution or this Act. 

The EC notes that according to the requirements of Section 30 in evaluating any objection to a  nomination, the EC will re-evaluate the findings of the SoE in particular to ensure that the  requirements set by Section 23 of the Electoral Act 2014 are met.  

The EC received two (2) objections from a voter against 2 candidates. In evaluating the objection, the  EC found that the voter did not submit any grounds as required under section 30 and his objections  were prima facie based on matters that do not fall within the ambit of section 23 of the Act. The EC  proceeded to dismiss the objections. 

In terms of the appeals, the EC received 10 appeals from nominees who had been rejected by the SoE  as well as some from persons who had been withdrawn by parties and also a case of 4 persons who were not even nominated.  

There were two (2) candidates from Social Democratic Liberal Party who appealed, however their  nominations had been duly withdrawn by SODELPA and they had already been replaced by their  party. The EC proceeded to dismiss both these appeals on the same grounds. One candidate, name  Seremaia Tui had appealed the rejection of his nomination which was also dismissed by the EC as it 

was found that he had a previous criminal conviction. The EC found that Seremaia Tui’s nomination  did not meet the requirements of section 23(4)(g). 

There were four (4) candidates from Unity Fiji who had appealed but their nominations were  withdrawn by the Party and not filed at all. Hence, it did not meet the legal basis of an appeal. There  was one (1) candidate from Unity Fiji whose nomination had been processed based on police records and he had been found to have a previous criminal conviction. However, the candidate furnished the  EC with his court judgment in which it was found that there was no conviction to be entered. The EC  upheld his appeal and has thereafter directed the SoE the add him to the final list of candidates. There  was also another candidate, Mr. Ifereimi Buaserau who appealed the decision to the EC but was  dismissed given that there was sufficient evidence to prove that he had a previous conviction. 

Amjad Ali from People’s Alliance filed an appeal but this was dismissed as the party had already  replaced him in its list of candidates.  

For the 2022 General Election, the EC had revised the procedure for dealing with appeals and  objections to ensure that the appeals and objections are dealt with thoroughly and swiftly and in this  regard the EC received very quick responses from the SoE in particular for all the appeals and was  able to make decisions effectively.  

In terms of the objections, the EC found no legal basis in the objections and proceeded to dismiss  them and at the end of the entire process the EC finds that Mohammed Riyaz Khan needs to be added  to the list of approved candidates and all the other appeals and objections have been dismissed by  the EC.  

Following this exercise, the EC has also approved for the SoE to conduct the Ball Draw for the National  Candidates’ List at 10am tomorrow. 

Bula Vinaka Ladies and Gentlemen and a good afternoon to you, 

It is 4o’clock and the Appeals and Objections on nominations approved by the Supervisor of Elections for the 2022 General Election are now closed. 

By our records, we have received _____10___ appeals and ___2_____ objections. 

Vinaka Vakalevu.

1. The Electoral Commission will be accepting appeals and objections at 59 High Street, Toorak, Suva, from 8am until 4pm on Tuesday 15 November 2022.
2. All appeals and objections must be lodged by completing the approved forms. The Electoral Commission will not accept any other document. Interested individuals can download the appeals and objections forms from the following link on the Electoral Commission website: www.electoralcommission.org.fj/forms/
3. In the event a registered voter wishes to file an objection to a nomination, they must deposit a fee of FJ$100 in cash. There are no fees for Appeals.
4. The decision of the Electoral Commission on an Appeal or Objection is final.

Ends.

The Electoral Commission held its first meeting following the issuance of the Writ and at this meeting the Electoral Commission approved the Notice of Nomination to be published tomorrow.

The Electoral Commission also discussed the Electoral Commission’s monitoring plan for the 2022 General Election and received an update from the Supervisor of Elections in terms of the election operations for this election.

The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission once again takes this opportunity to thank His Excellency for the Writ that has now been issued and the Electoral Commission is looking forward to deliver a free, fair and credible 2022 General Election.

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