This was the decision made by the Electoral Commission after deliberating on requests made by intending candidates and members of the public to extend the registration timeline and to open last-minute “out-of-constituency registration” centers.
Chief Electoral Officer, Mr Jasper Highwood Anisi confirmed this in relaying the Commission’s decision.
“All Voter Registration Centers across the country will be closed by 5pm Friday 29th September 2023 as scheduled”, Mr. Anisi confirmed.
“The Electoral Commission has made this decision in considering many other important factors including commitment to uphold the principle of, equality, neutrality, and independence, more vital is the application of a credible national process that is applied equally and cross-sectionally in all our constituencies”, Mr. Anisi explained.
“The Commission is also conscious of the limited time it has to complete all registration activities by January 2024 and call for the election timeline to commence as early as mid-February 2024, this is a Constitutional obligation that we must not overlook,” Mr. Anisi further stated.
The Solomon Islands Electoral Commission is always mindful of its role in upholding this principle of integrity and independence and would at all means remain neutral in its decisions with regard to implementing a system that must be equally applied across all constituencies safeguarding the integrity of both the SIEC and the processes involved.
Chief Electoral Officer Jasper Anisi | Photo: SIEC
Although there were heightened discussions on voter registration-related issues and concerns in the media and a few sporadic disturbances reported in some remote constituencies across the country, which are expected, there have been no major incidents.
For that, the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission would like to thank all eligible voters and our electoral stakeholders for taking part in this first process of the registration exercise.
At the close of registration tomorrow, retrievals will begin in retrieving teams.
The registration exercise does not stop here. After all the field voter registration data processing will commence, a draft voter list will be produced which will be brought back to respective registration in the constituency for inspections and public scrutiny, an opportunity that is afforded to cleanse the draft list.
This is when objections are conducted to those who have illegitimately registered including omissions by those registered and have not found their names on the list. Public inquiries will follow suit on these claims made.
The Solomon Islands Electoral Commission acknowledged and shared the understanding of the requests sought and has made considerable considerations to such extensions of the registration period.
If you want to know more on any election-related matter or check for new updates on Election happenings, follow SIEO’s Facebook @SIelectoralcommission page and website at www.siec.gov.sb Or for general inquiries, you can call the office hotline phone at 7222200 or landline 21198.
END //: SIEC PRESS