Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem says they note that the Fiji Bureau of Statistics has estimated that in the year 2019/2020, 570,327 people were over the age of 18 and while this figure is an estimate to begin with, it does not hold against actual direct registration platforms such as the voter registration data.
He made the comments after some party leaders such as Mahendra Chaudhry had called for an investigation into the huge discrepancy in voter numbers between figures provided by the Fiji Bureau of Stats and the Elections Office.
According to Saneem the voter registration as at 30th June 2021 stands at 651,168.
Saneem says voter registration is an ongoing exercise and his Office carries out extensive data cleaning and verification exercises to ensure that the register is current, free from multiple registrations and verifiable.
He also says the Elections Office collected its data continuously over four years and the census comprised data collected on a single day (and collected with a range of questions designed for multiple purposes).
Saneem adds they appreciate that there are robust discussions on the voter roll and also welcomes arguments on the veracity of the register.
In relation to the variances between census data with voter registration data in the 2018 General Elections, the Multinational Observer Group had noted that the discrepancy was the result of different methodologies.
Meanwhile, after the release of the Housing Income and Expenditure Survey, Fiji Labour Party Leader Mahendra Chaudhry says the Bureau of Statistics figures show that in 2019/20, 570,327 people over the age of 18, were eligible to vote. Figures from the Elections Office show that in 2018, 637,527 people were registered to vote.
Chaudhry also says how does one account for this huge discrepancy in the two sets of figures.
He adds this is extremely serious and must be investigated.
