Replace Voter Cards from Green to Blue
The Fijian Elections Office (FEO) has announced it will phase out the green coloured voter cards, also called the Voter Card 1.0.
The green coloured cards were the first version of the voter cards that was issued from 2012 to 2016. Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem said people have until June 30, 2020, to replace the old cards for the newer version which is Voter Card 2.0 (blue card). He said the newer version would have the details of the voter’s polling venue so that the person knew exactly where they would go and vote.
“We will also capitalise on this opportunity and get updated details of the voter in our system,” Mr Saneem said.
“Those who had registered in 2012 or 2013 were still carrying the green voter card and this would be an opportunity to update their picture as we want to go into the next election with more current photos of the voter.”
He said the replacement of the voter card would be free of charge and people could visit the voter service centres in Suva, Lautoka or Labasa to update their cards. They intend to open more centers later on.
“FEO will be conducting a nation-wide voter registration and card replacement drive early next year to allow for more remote and rural areas to be reached and their card updated,” he said. “The new card has more security features, more details for the voter in terms of the polling venue and it shows when the card was issued.
“There will be more developments coming to the voter card scene in due course as we implement our next strategic plan. “Later on, we will be coming up with some more requirements on how current the voter card must be because of some ongoing issues when it comes to voting where people turn up with very old cards and details and it is hard to identify them.
“My advice to the public is to go to a Voter Service Centre and update to voter card 2.0. In the last election we accepted both cards, but in the next election we will only accept the voter 2.0 and over.” Edited by Ranoba Baoa