Nominations of candidate names for election open from yesterday

The Fijian Elections Office is now open to receive the nomination of candidate names for the 2018 general election from yesterday until the 15th of this month.

While making the announcement the Chairman of the Electoral Commission Suresh Chandra says that this is open from 8am yesterday until 12pm on the 15th of October.

Chandra says that the nomination forms are to be accompanied with deposits of $1,000 for each party candidate and independent candidate.

He says that those who wish to register as an independent candidate must also present a list of 1,000 supporters in the approved form along with the nomination forms.

The Chairman of the Electoral Commission says any candidate who wishes to withdraw his or her nomination form can do so by providing a written notice to the Supervisor of Elections no later than 12pm on the 16th October, 2018.

Chandra says that during the nomination period, the Supervisor of Elections will check all applications for compliance and decide whether the independent or party nomination has met all the criteria in order to be approved as a candidate for the 2018 general elections and this will then be displaced at the place of nomination on 16th October.

He says that following the objections to any candidate nominations, appeals to the decision of the Supervisor of Elections must be received by the Electoral Commission no later than 4pm on 16th October.

Chandra says once these requirements have been met and any objections and appeal approved and dealt with, the Fijian Elections Office will proceed with the National Candidates List Ball Draw to allocate individual numbers to approved candidates.