The high number of people that turned up at Namatakula Village in Nadroga to have their registration done with the Fijian Elections Office team had pushed for the team to extend their stay in the village.
In a statement, the Fiji Elections Office said voters from nearby villages and settlements had also arrived at Namatakula to have their registration done.
“This influx of people meant more time needed to be spent there,” FEO said.
“We stand to correct claims by (The) People’s Alliance as it was our divisional manager western that extended the stay of the team there to cater for all the voters.”
The FEO said it was unfortunate that because of their planned visit to Narata Village in the Sigatoka Valley, they had to postpone registrations at Jubairata Village and return there on Wednesday morning to cover the remainder of the villagers.
FEO has, however, urged all stakeholders to refrain from making wild allegations on voter disenfranchisement without properly comprehending the definition or the impact of such claims without any real justification or proof.
It stated they had successfully served more than 3000 voters daily in some of the most remote regions of Fiji.
“This itself is testament of FEO’s commitment to make voter services accessible.
“Stakeholders should refrain from discombobulating the facts as the statistics speak very differently.
“Newly-registered political parties in Fiji will of course take time to familiarise themselves with the massive operational details of nationwide drives and the FEO will guide them to understand the plans better.”
FEO said given the size of the operations in the nationwide vaccination drive, they had ensured that all attempts were made with the village headman and advisory councilors on the ground regarding their updated schedules.
FEO said it was rather unfortunate for The People’s Alliance party member Lynda Tabuya to have not known that the time for the Lomaivuna visit by the team had changed where the district officer, the provincial administrator and the advisory councilor, namely, Hublashi Lal, were fully aware and had informed all the voters that the teams would be there at their station from 9am to 5pm or longer if necessary.
“In Lynda’s Facebook post, she has posted about a person who had turned up to some other place instead of the residence of the advisory councilor which is the scheduled venue.”
