4000 SAmoAns VotE In FIrst Two DAys
Political newcomers impress in early voting
Samoa’s Electoral Commissioner says more than four thousand voters have so far voted in the first two days of prepolling.
Faimalomatumua Mathew Lemisio told the media after the provisional results were posted last night that a more accurate figure of those who have voted so far will be known today.
But he is happy with the flow of things on the second day of prepolling for pensioners, those with disabilities and those who will need to work on the general election day tomorrow.
He said Tuesday’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 8400 voters registered for pre-polling and they have up until 4pm today to cast their votes. More than 128,000 voters have been registered for the 2021 General Election.
Following photos and reports of a certain candidate seen among the voters in the polling booth, the Electoral Commissioner reminded candidates that they should only be at the polling booth to cast their vote and not linger with the voters.
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.
Apia: Several newcomers to Samoa’s political arena made impressive showings when early ballots were counted on the first two days of pre-polling. In several electoral constituencies, among them Vaimauga No.4, Faleata No.1 and Gagaemauga No.1, the newcomers have been leading the race for a seat in Parliament, according to preliminary pre-polling for the 2021 Samoa General Election.
In Vaimauga No.4, attorney Faualo Harry Schuster, who is running as a candidate for the Faatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (F.A.S.T.) political party, came back with the most ballots on Day 1 and Day 2. He collected 29 on Day 1 (Monday) and 28 on Day 2 (Tuesday), for a total of 57 votes so far.