4,000 vote in first two days of pre-polling

Casting her vote at the Faleata Gym 2 polling booth.

By Lagi Keresoma

APIA, SAMOA – 06 APRIL 2021:  The Electoral Commissioner says more than 4 thousand voters have so far voted in the first two days of pre-polling. Faimalōmatumua Mathew Lemisio told the media after the provisional results second day were posted tonight that a more accurate figure of those who have voted so far will be known tomorrow.

But he is happy with the flow of things on the second day of pre-polling for pensioners, those with disabilities and those who will need to work on the general election day this coming Friday, 9 April.

He said last night’s delay was due to one of the ballot boxes that had to be returned to the polling booth to be counted in the scrutineers’ presence after a police officer took the box before the votes were counted.

There are 8,400 voters registered for pre-polling and they have up until 4.00pm on Thursday to cast their votes.

Manually posting the results as they come in on huge blackboards for everyone to see.

More than 128,000 voters have been registered for the 2021 general elections.

Following photos and reports of a certain candidate seen among the voters in the polling booth, the Electoral Commissioner reminded the candidates that they should only be at the polling booth to cast their vote and must not linger with the voters.

There are 432 polling booths set up around the country and Thursday and Friday are also public holidays to ensure all registered voters do cast their votes.

The election results are manually posted on huge blackboards in the gymnasium used by the Electoral Office and the results are carried live on Radio, TV and online news outlets as the Electoral Commissioner has vowed to maintain the integrity of the elections.