Fijians in New Zealand finally able to register for Fiji elections

Tuesday, 3 May 2022

Fiji's National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad speaks at a fundraising dinner function in Auckland on April 13. General election in Fiji will be held later in the year.

Fijians in New Zealand can finally register for the Fiji general election this year, after voter registration plans were revealed by its high commission in Wellington.

The election date could be knownas early as May 26 – a month after the start of campaigning on April 26.

The official date will be revealed when a writ of election is issued by the president.

Fiji will hold its general elections this year, although a date is yet to be set. (File image)

Voter registrations in Fiji have now closed. However, Fijians overseas who hoped to have their votes counted were still in the dark on how to register for the elections until recently.

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For eligible voters in New Zealand, a registration event has been planned in Auckland from May 14 to 22, with a venue still to be confirmed.

There are also plans to register Fijians in Wellington.

However, it is still unclear how Fijians in other parts of the world can register for the elections.

According to Fiji’s supervisor of elections Mohammed Saneem, Fijians overseas would need to travel to their nearest Fiji mission to register to vote.

Saneen said Covid-19 restrictions had put a dent to overseas voter registration efforts.

Fiji would focus first on countries which had Fiji missions, then organise teams to travel to countries whose borders were open.

“If you are overseas and already are a registered voter, you can apply to vote by a postal ballot,” Saneem said.

“You will be able to provide your details on the postal vote application form directly from any type of voter card that you have.

“Be it green or blue, as long as you have your voter number and if your name is exactly how it is spelled on the voter card, you will be entitled to vote via a postal ballot.”

In 2018, only 498 Fijians in New Zealand registered for the Fiji election. There are about 40,000 Fijians living in New Zealand, who are still eligible to vote in Fiji.

According to a FEO 2018 General Election report, more than 7000 Fijians living overseas registered for the last elections. However, only 1187 voters applied for postal vote.

Close to 500,000 votes in total were cast in the 2018 elections. According to United Nations data, Fiji’s population is about 900,000.