The Fijian Elections Office has clarified that all votes are counted manually.
In a press conference this evening, Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem responded to Political Parties who are calling for a full manual counting of votes.
Saneem highlighted that there have been inaccurate statements made by the People’s Alliance, National Federation Party, Fiji Labour Party and the Unity Fiji Party earlier today.
“The counting of votes is done manually.”
“Anybody calling for a manual count in Fiji, tell me what else can I do to make it more manual than that? What else do you want me to do? There is absolutely nothing else you can make more manual.”
“It’s the same counting process from the history of elections in Fiji. People picking up ballot papers and saying 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. So ladies and gentlemen, with all due respect to everybody who’s been making statements, I urge you to ensure that your statements are filled with accuracy.”
The leaders of the People’s Alliance, SODELPA, National Federation Party, Fiji Labour Party and Unity Fiji are calling for a recount of the votes in the 2022 General Elections.
Meanwhile, in another conference held by Opposition Parties, Sitiveni Rabuka called for the immediate halt in the tallying of votes, until a forensic audit of the election system is conducted.
Rabuka said they are putting the Electoral Commission on notice.
“We are seriously considering non-compliance of being sworn in as Members of Parliament, because of the questionable results so far announced,” Rabuka added.
