Over 500,000 Fijians register to vote in 2014 general election

More than 5,000 Fijians registered to vote during the first week of phase three of electronic voter registration (EVR) in the country, local media reported Monday.

Government figures showed 5,648 registered in the first week, adding to the 505,036 Fijians who registered during the previous phases. This brings to 510,684 the total number of Fijians that have registered to vote in the 2014 general election. The country has less than 1 million people.

Phase three of the EVR started last week, as Fijians traveled to registration centers across the country.

According to government figures, 745 cards were replaced and 380 people made corrections to their personal registration details. Ministry of Justice acting permanent secretary Mohammed Saneem said the first two phases of registration covered the vast majority of eligible Fijians.

"Our goal during this phase is to seek those Fijians who were missed out, paying particular attention to those areas of the country that had low registration figures after the first two phases," Saneem told local newspaper the Fiji Times, reminding Fijians interested in registering during phase three to ensure they had a form of valid identification before going to register.

EVR teams will be stationed around the country from Mondays to Saturdays and mobile registration teams will be going door to door on Sundays.

Minister for Home Affairs Joketani Cokanasiga and Commissioner of Police Brigadier General Ioane Naivalurua have recently been touring villages to gauge the preparation of police teams in the area as a build up to the 2014 general election.

Police teams visited communities in rural areas to try and raise awareness to improve relationships between the Fiji Police Force and the ministry.

The police commissioner has also met members of the business communities and have talked about ways the police force could contribute to improve investor-friendly communities.

The Fiji Police Force has a mission to ensure that communities are investor-friendly and encourages the growth of trade and investment as the country prepares for the 2014 general election.