Since 3 October 2021, the Fijian Elections Office [‘FEO’] has had 361,763 voter engagements and in the Know Your Election [‘KYE’] campaign and Nationwide Voter Registration Drive [‘NVRD’] alone, the FEO has registered 19,879 new voters.

Supervisor of Elections, Mr Mohammed Saneem said the oldest new voter to register during the NVRD was 91 years old.

“The changes brought about in the law as well as the expiry of the Green VoterCard together with the urgency created by the indirect use of the VoterCards for other commercial purposes has resulted in the extensive interest of voters to upgrade to the latest VoterCard,” Mr Saneem said.

“The FEO also capitalized on this surge and engaged just over 200,000 voters in the KYE and NVRD which was conducted between 26 February to 14 April 2022.”

Mr Saneem added the turnout recorded in the KYE and the NVRD could also be attributed to the $30,000 Bonanza.

From 3 October 2021 until 14 April 2022, the FEO has recorded 39,992 new registrations.

“At the close of the KYE and NRD, the FEO conducted an extensive data verification and cleaning exercise using information returned by Turaga-ni-Koro’s and District Advisory Councilors as well as against data records of other relevant agencies,” Mr Saneem explained.

“Furthermore, the KYE and NVRD allowed the FEO to verify the Provisional Voter List for the second time going into the 2022 General Election.”

Since 3 October 2021, the FEO has verified and removed 10,905 voters who are now deceased.

“The processes and procedures used by the FEO in Voter List management is not only consistent with internationally accepted best practices for Voter List management but also complies with the spirit of the Fijian Electoral (Registration of Voters) Act 2012,” Mr Saneem said.

The total number of voters registered on the National Register of Voters as at 14 April 2022 stands at 682,569.