Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem has raised his concerns regarding various statements made in Parliament today by a opposition MP that contain significant amounts of inaccuracies and inconsistencies regarding elections.
In a statement, Saneem says a member of Parliament today alleged that voters were assigned to polling venues by a software which is absolutely incorrect as voters have the full right to select a polling venue of their own choice at the time they register to vote.
Saneem says the Fijian Elections Office had published numerous times before the 2018 General Election the venues that will be used for the 2018 General Election and also carried out direct verification of Voter Lists through Turaga ni Koros in villages that were either remote or had lesser access to the general media platform.
He says they find it bizarre that new claims have now been made through the Parliamentary platform of incorrect assignment of voters wherein the Member of Parliament has failed to acknowledge the law that requires a voter themselves to correct the venue and in the event that they have not done so, the law even goes to the extent of disqualifying the voter from voting.
He adds the Fijian Elections Office also highlights that the Fijian Elections Office carried out a seven‑month long campaign in 2018 to create awareness amongst voters and at the same time provide the electoral services that voters could use to amend or update their details adding that any voter who failed to do so, is only responsible for that action themselves.
Saneem says political parties had full access to the National Register of Voters and the issues that the particular MP is highlighting currently, could have been resolved in a more positive manner should the Party have directly raised that before the General Election to facilitate those voters being able to vote.
Saneem says they invite the Member to contact them so that they can organize the necessary information session or training possibly – considering that the MP is also the General Secretary of SODELPA – so that she can receive the most accurate election information and at the same time update her knowledge on the election and the processes.
He adds they extend this invitation to all members of the public and Parliamentarians to seek this assistance from them directly in order to avoid continuous mis‑statements being made ‑ now even on the Parliamentary platform.
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