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the EC received 10 appeals from nominees who had been rejected by the SoE  as well as some from persons who had been withdrawn by parties and also a case of 4 persons who were not even nominated.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were two (2) candidates from Social Democratic Liberal Party who appealed, however their  nominations had been duly withdrawn by SODELPA and they had already been replaced by their  party.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There were four (4) candidates from Unity Fiji who had appealed but their nominations were  withdrawn by the Party and not filed at all.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.

–Ends-

The Electoral Commission has dismissed a complaint from the National Federation Party [NFP] in relation to a member of the public namely Mr Mohammed Sareem. The NFP had alleged that Mr Sareem was in the conduct of vote buying through his TikTok platform namely Rajdhani2022. 

The Electoral Commission noted that the allegations were without any merit and the Electoral Commission found that Mr Sareem was acting in his personal/private capacity and there was no vote buying taking place under the said platform. 

In dismissing the complaint, the Electoral Commission noted that every individual has the right to political participation. Mr. Sareem was simply hosting a TikTok. The Commission did not find that he was part of or represented any political party.

-Ends-

The Electoral Commission adopted the public opinion poll guidelines for the 2022  General Election on 5 July 2022. This was published on the Commission’s website for all  interested agencies to refer to and comply with when pertaining to the opinion poll for  the 2022 General Election. However, the Commission noted that Fiji Sun published a  public opinion poll on 6 August 2022 which did not follow the approved ESOMAR &  WAPOR guidelines.  

The Commission findings are that: 

1. a) Fiji Sun is the parent company which directs Western Force Research to carry out  general research survey works, opinion polls for the newspaper and therefore it  is bound by the adopted guideline. 
2. b) That western force research is a home based small business that does not have a  business website nor any social media page. The guideline provides that the  researchers are required to promptly identify themselves and unambiguously  state the purpose of the research and enable respondents to check their identity  and bona fides without difficulty. 
3. c) The Guideline also provides that the basic principle of fair and informative  reporting requires that it be made clear on how and where the enquirer can obtain  additional details. The survey company and the media should publish all required  full details of public opinion polls on their website within hours of publication. As  such Fiji Sun- Western Force Research publication does not comply with this  standard. 
4. d) Researchers must ensure that adequate security measures are employed to  prevent unauthorized access, manipulation and disclosure to the personal data.  Western Force Research has failed to demonstrate that it has sufficient capacity to  deliver this requirement. 
5. e) The Guideline provided that the name of the organization which conducted the  poll and its sponsor, the organization or person who paid for the poll must be  disclosed. The Western Force Research company does not exist according to the  company search conducted and the company is purportedly owned by the name  of Mere Serukalou rather as claimed in the response. 
6. f) In its response, Western Force Research claimed that they take a sample size of  1000 respondents based on the demographics of Fiji. The guideline requires that  researchers observe the need for samples of appropriate size and quality and  technical consideration particularly affecting pre-election polls. Such polls must  have a sample large enough to draw conclusions about voters.  
7. g) Western Force also stated that all research survey data is handed to Fiji Sun but  also noted that this is currently not published by Fiji Sun. The guideline  commensurate that researchers and those publishing survey data must make  available sufficient information to enable the public and other stakeholders to  evaluate the results. 
8. h) The interviews were conducted by teams targeting bus stands, markets, housing  settlements, neighborhood, taxi stands etc. The required standard requires that  exit poll interviews conducted in a public place must take special care about  respondents’ confidentiality. However, there is lack of information on how this  confidentiality was maintained by the interviews while being out on field.  
9. i) The interviews were mostly done face to face in markets, towns, and  neighborhoods ensuring that respondents are not politically biased, politically  active or affiliated with a certain political party. The standard required outlines  that the actual question wording is critical to interpreting the findings, and to  eliminate ambiguity and misunderstanding. There is lack of information on what  questions were asked to the respondent and how it was ascertained that these  respondents were impartial.  
10. j) The guideline also highlights that for interviews conducted face to face, the  researchers must ensure that the interviewers must be professionally trained on  how to conduct such polls, that interviewers act properly and are adequately  supervised. Again Fiji Sun-Western Force research being a home-based business  must be sponsored for carrying out such training. However, there is no mention  of sponsor details and how they train their team for conducting such a poll.
11. k) The June poll and the recent poll on 6th August published by Western Force  Research failed to state how many interviews were done face to face, how many  were done by telephone calls and interviews through social media by divisions,  age, gender and locations. Fiji has four divisions Central, North, Eastern and West  yet the research company has left out our Maritime zones formally known as the  Eastern division and within those divisions there are zones or areas such as the  Lami area, Nasinu/Nakasi area, Nausori area and the Navua area but none of this  were mentioned in any of the polls published as per the ESOMAR/WAPOR  guideline, sampling method is vital in publishing any public opinion poll.  

Therefore, the Electoral Commission urges all agencies conducting opinion poll on the  2022 General Election to abide by the guidelines adopted by the Commission. You can  find the guidelines on our website: https://www.electoralcommission.org.fj/guidelines on-opinion-polls-published-surveys/ 

12 August 2022

MEDIA RELEASE     

Fiji Labour Party Complaint against the Fiji Police Force for

Breach of S111(1) of the Electoral Act 2014 dismissed

The Electoral Commission has completed its enquiries in relation to a complaint received from the Fiji Labour Party. 

Based on the findings of the enquiries, the Electoral Commission is of the view that the Fiji Police Force is well within its power to conduct investigation and Section 111(1) of the Electoral Act has not been breached. 

The Electoral Commission therefore, dismisses the complaint from the Fiji Labour Party. 

-Ends-

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

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.

-Ends-

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

The Electoral Commission, in preparation for the 2022 General Election, and noting thatthe first possible date the Writ can be issued is 26May 2022, has today informed Political Parties through a letter that all communications with the Electoral Commission in which they seek the Commission’s action, response, comments or for any other matter must be communicated via official correspondence on email or letter addressed directly to the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission and through the official email provided. Letters to the Commission can also be dropped off at its office at 59-63 High Street Toorak, Suva.

“The Commission has done this in order to ensure that all communications going into the 2022 General Election are consistently dealt with, recorded and available in case of future reference,” explained Mr. Nand, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission.

It is also important to note that the Commission does not wish to engage indirect communication with Political Parties and Candidates through the media, social media or any other platform that may be available to a person.

The Chairperson further says: “It is imperative that all Political Parties adhere to this to ensure that communications for the 2022 General Election are direct, formal and transparent.”

-Ends-

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