The Fijian Elections Office has completed its operational plan for the Writ period, laying out how the entire process will be run.
The plan covers a 50-day period from the day that the Writ of Election is issued by the President, to when the Writ is returned with all the election results.
Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem said the plan will be reviewed once more before it is given final approval.
“The Writ period plan is ready. We have to have a second round of evaluations on that plan. In the FEO, when we make a plan, there is a brief lull period where we go back and reconsider, re-evaluate some of the processes that we have worked out. We’ll have a second finalisation workshop in April and that’s when we can confidently start giving you dates and things”
The operational plan dictates how the FEO will execute a number of processes required under the electoral framework such as the nomination of political candidates, the ball draw for candidate numbers, applications for postal voting, the conduct of polling, and the delivery of results.
Saneem has also indicated that the Fijian Elections Office has set a target date of 20 May to be election ready.
The earliest that an election could be called is 26 May this year.
Meanwhile, the Fijian Elections Office is working on enhancements to its election results app ahead of the upcoming election.
The app, which can be used on any electronic smart device, was the main platform for the FEO to disseminate provisional results in the 2018 General Election.
Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem said the app will get new features.
“The results app that we had in the 2018 General Election – we are now enhancing it. We would like the app to give us results of polling stations that we have just published on top, in order of entry with some highlighting so that it’s easier to keep track of which ones are new and which ones are already in the system”.
The app will also be made more user-friendly.
The Fijian Elections Office begins its nationwide voter registration drive in all major urban centres this weekend.
Teams will also visit rural and maritime areas to register voters or update details.
SOURCE: FBC NEWS/PACNEWS
