Mads Anneberg in Suva
Private Iva Senibiu, 30, has never voted before. So she looked happy today when she put her ballot in the box in Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Suva.
“I enjoyed it very much,” she said.
Along with hundreds of other soldiers from the Fiji military, she voted ahead of the main polling day on September 17 in the intermediate polling booth set up in the barracks.
Even though there has been talk about strange-looking ballot papers, Senibiu found the voting system easy and simple, as did a number of other soldiers, Pacific Scoop spoke to.
“It was good. It was very simple. And as any other Fijian, I’m just happy to cast my vote,” said Staff Sergeant Ledua, who did not wish to have his first name published.
Today was the second and final day of pre-polling in Queen Elizabeth Barracks. Both days were under the watch of the Multinational Observer Group.
Remote areas
Fiji has now been pre-polling for almost one week and will continue to do so until Sunday.
Primarily, voters who live in remote areas have been selected for pre-polling because the resources to get out there cannot be gathered simultaneously.
But in the case of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF), Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem said this was to avoid tying them all down on one day.
“Pre-polling has been organised for the security forces to be available to provide security if need be,” he said.
In general, the pre-polling has been successful in the central, northern and western parts of the country, said Saneem.
However, there remained to be problems in the Eastern Division on Tuesday. Tide and rough seas had – similarly to Monday – been an issue, and some polling had been delayed until Wednesday, where a total of 4800 people will be able to cast their vote.
Pacific Scoop student journalist reports on Fiji elections
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Mads Anneberg
