Saneem ‘has to go’ for fair poll
Chaudhry accuses SOE of being arrogant, dogmatic
SUPERVISOR of Elections Mohammed Saneem “has to go” if Fiji is to have free and fair general election in 2022, says Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry.
Mr Chaudhry accused Mr Saneem of being “arrogant and dogmatic”, and accusing media organisations and opposition leaders of creating confusion when as a constitutional office holder he was required to do his work without making political statements.
“In fact, it is Saneem himself who is guilty of misleading and confusing the voter by coming up with new rules and requirements that are not in the electoral laws,” Mr Chaudhry said.
“He has been rebuked twice by the courts for making his own rules.
“He is supposed to be the guardian of the law when it comes to electoral issues, yet he appears to be ignorant of the legal requirements for voter registration.”
Mr Chaudhry said Section 51 (1) and (2) of the Electoral Act clearly stated that a voter could present another form of identification to the satisfaction of the Supervisor or presiding officer.
“Section 51 (2) states specifically ‘if a voter does not have any identification card or any other form of identification, the Supervisor or presiding officer must take necessary measures to verify the identification of the voter, including the verification of the voter’s thumbprint or asking the voter such questions as necessary to verify his or her identity’.
“Finally, Section 51 (9) clinches the matter once and for all: ‘In all other circumstances, the person’s claim to vote must be accepted and he or she must be given a ballot paper’.
“There is no question of a blue or green card, cards expiring or birth certificate names or whatever,” Mr Chaudhry claimed.
“The law supports the case of married women who choose to use their husband’s names. Section 51 (4) infers that a woman’s married name is ‘legal tender’, that is, a voter can use her married name to vote.”
When contacted for comments on Mr Chaudhry’s statements, the Fijian Elections Office said it would comment in due course.