Statement by the Director Operations
Anaseini Seinimoli
Release of Latest Voter Statistics
Date: 07/01/22
Time: 11am
Bula Vinaka, Ladies and gentlemen.
Following the FEO’s Data Cleaning and Adjudication exercise last year, the total number of voters on the National Register of Voters [NRV] as at 30 November 2021 currently stands at 662, 615 with the numbers projected to increase as we approach the 2022 General Elections.
The FEO has registered 14, 376 new voters.
Despite reporting low voter engagement for the first six (6) months of 2021 due to the pandemic and the eventual lockdowns, the Fijian Elections Office saw a huge turnout of voters at our Voter Services Centres [VSCs] from July onwards.
As such, the management decided to commence an Ad Hoc Voter Registration Drive in October to cater to the increasing demand from the public for voter services as well as to facilitate the upgrade to the blue VoterCard following the FEO’s announcement to expire the green VoterCard.
Initially, the teams were only deployed to the major centres in Suva, Lautoka and Labasa, but upon seeing the high demand, we quickly opened additional centres at Nakasi, Sigatoka, Tavua, Nausori, Nadi, Rakiraki and Ba.
From 20th October 2021, the FEO also started with Business House Registrations. This drastically increased voter engagement. From July to November, there was a total of 103,760 voter engagements, and most of it was in October where FEO noted 65,853 voter engagements
In terms of the data cleaning exercise, it is regularly conducted to maintain an accurate National Register of Voters. To this end we obtain records from the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registry, Fiji Corrections Service, Fiji National Provident Fund and the Department of Immigration and we run this data that we receive from these institutions against the data that we already hold in the FEO database.
Mostly we are attempting to obtain data from these institutions for deceased persons. From the corrections service, we receive data for inmates who are in prison for more than two (2) years or who have been released after having served their imprisonment. And from the Immigration Department, it is mostly to confirm citizenship or those who have renounced citizenship. And that is the number that has been affected against the data that we already have.
The FEO has a reporting mechanism in place where any person who has a relative or a family member that has passed away, to notify the FEO so that we can remove those persons from the National Register. This service is available throughout the year.
Voter registration in Fiji is an ongoing exercise and the FEO carries out extensive data cleaning and verification exercises to ensure that the Register is current, verifiable and free from multiple registrations.
Voter Statistics as at 30 November 2021
Following the conclusion of the adjudication exercise and the cleaning of the voter register against those who are no longer qualified to vote by virtue of being deceased or other reasons as per the law, the total number of registered voters as at 30 November 2021 stands at 662,615.
| Summary | Total | Percentage |
| Registered Voters | 662,615 | |
| Gender | ||
| Female | 331,293 | 50.00% |
| Male | 331,322 | 50.00% |
| Division | ||
| Central | 284,606 | 42.95% |
| Western | 251,476 | 37.95% |
| Northern | 95,309 | 14.38% |
| Eastern | 23,687 | 3.57% |
| Overseas | 7,537 | 1.14% |
Currently, there are 331,322 males (50%) and 331,293 (49.98%) females registered on the NRV. The gender breakdown by percentage is nearly half and half which is a good sign considering the international standards.
Compared to the data as at 30 June 2021, the increase in total voter numbers is 11,447. In terms of registration of female voters, there was an increase by 6,095 which is about 1.84%. For males, there was an increase of 5,352 in the voter numbers which is 1.62%.
For the Divisional breakdown, the Central Division currently has the largest number of registered voters, making up 42.95% of the NRV, followed by the Western Division at 37.95%. The Northern Division makes up 14.38% of the NRV while the Eastern Division makes up almost 3.57% and the Overseas is 1.14%.
Among the different age cohorts, the 31-40 age group makes up 23.37% of the Register with 154,850 voters followed by the 21-30 cohort standing at 22.33% with 147,990 registered voters.
From the overall statistics, we are looking at a steady climb to the next General Election in terms of the number of voters. We are currently sitting at 662,625 voters. Our projection for the 2022 General Election is that we will be reaching a roundabout figure of 670,000.
Ends
