Statement by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission

Mr Suresh Chandra

Fiji National Polling Venue Directory Launch

Suva

6th September, 2017

10:00am

Ni sa Bula Vinaka and a very warm welcome to the Fijian Elections Office Ladies and Gentlemen.

I would like to begin by taking this opportunity to thank all of you for taking out your valuable time and accepting our invitation.

I would also like to thank His Excellency, The President, for his acknowledgment of the work of the Electoral Commission and the Fijian Elections Office.

His Excellency’s kind words have motived my team and provided great encouragement to the Supervisor of Elections and the Fijian Elections Office.

Under section 75 of the Constitution, the Electoral Commission is responsible for conducting free and fair elections in accordance with the legal and electoral framework. The next General Election in Fiji is in 2018 – next year.

Since our appointment this year, my commission agreed to approach the 2018 General Election strategically. We understood that the Fijian Elections Office had already been working on several aspects of the Election.

We knew that the innovative and committed group of individuals at the FEO needed our support and guidance and as such, we chose the theme ‘Raising the Standards in the Delivery of Elections in Fiji’.

For the first time in Fiji’s history, the probable locations of Polling

Venues around the country have been identified and published as an annual publication.

Ladies and gentlemen, this means that electoral information will become increasingly available. At the moment we anticipate to have 2,149 Polling Stations throughout the country.

In March this year, the Director Operations explained how these venues were decided. Whilst these printed volumes are for school libraries, anyone can access the online version at the FEO website. I particularly like the feature online that can give you directions to your allocated Polling Venue.

I would like to commend the Fijian Elections Office for its vision to extend a copy of the Fiji National Polling Venues Directory to each Secondary School Library in Fiji during National Library Week.

Indeed, this will allow our young Fijians the opportunity and exposure to elections right from school. When we come for Voter Registration next time to schools, students will already have a resource to identify the 3 preferred Polling venues through this resource.

I would like to thank Ravneel Chand from the FEO who undertook this project. It was done well and looks very attractive. Keep up the good work.

Thank you and Vinaka Vakalevu.