Selita Bolanavanua
New Zealand has donated 15,015 Voting Screens to Fiji, which is facing General Election soon.
Chief Electoral Officer Alicia Wright handed over cardboard voting screens to the Fijian Elections Office at a brief ceremony held in Suva on Saturday, March 10, 2018.
Fiji Electoral Commission Chairman Suresh Chandra said that the Commission had received the voting screens packed in boxes and protective plastic.
New Zealand had provided similar voting screens in 2014 when the first General Election was held after the military coup on December 5, 2006.
Sustainability Plan
“Each polling station will receive one box which is made up of four boxes and one disability friendly voting screen. There have been a few tweaks to the cardboard screens to prepare for a wet environment. We have a proper sustainability plan for them as well so we can use the same for future elections,” he said.
Mr Chandra said the polling stations being set up the for 2018 General Election would be the same as for the ones used in the 2014 General Election.
The Right to Vote
He hoped that the voters would find greater comfort in exercising their right.
“We want the 2018 General Election to be a platform for Fijians to express their will with confidence, security and freedom. We are confident that the support we have received from New Zealand will greatly contribute towards realising our goals,” Mr Chandra said.
Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem said that was the first time in Fiji, Fijians voted in an open and conducive environment rather than tall wooden triangular structures covered behind curtains.
“To assist with the 2018 General Election, we asked if the New Zealand Electoral Commission could once again assist us with the Cardboard Voting Screens and they humbly agreed. I would like to thank the New Zealand Government for its interest in developing electoral capacity in Fiji. The support programme has indeed been positive for both our countries and the team here at the FEO,” Mr Saneem said.
The Picture here (Courtesy Fijian Elections Office) shows from left Suresh Chandra, Alicia Wright, Fiji’s Electoral Commissioner Kavita Raniga, Mr Saneem and New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Fiji Jonathan Curr.
The above Report and Picture have been published by Indian Newslink under a Special Agreement with the Fiji Sun.
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Photo Caption: Alicia Wright with Fiji Election Commission officials in Suva on March 10 (FEO Picture)
