But time and funding against it

Evan Wasuka
 






 
With the national general elections six months away, the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission is gearing up for the year’s biggest day.
  The first task for the office is to set up a new voting list to replace its outdated and highly inflated list of voters in the country.
  The current voters list had been created for the 2001 general election and was updated five years later for the 2006 elections.
  But the list is now problematic—with overinflated numbers and frequent cases of multiple voter registration as seen in the three by-elections since 2006.
  “There is almost as many names on the voter registry as there are people in the country. Either there had been a double registration or the names should no longer be there,” said chairman of the Electoral Commission Sir Peter Kenilorea.
  Because of this, the Electoral Commission is compiling a new voters registry which is expected to be completed by May.
  “At the end of the day, we hope the final list of voters will be those who are eligible to vote,” said Kenilorea.
  Already the commission appears to be battling against time and funding.
  Out of the SB$12 million allocated in 2009 for preparations of the general elections, the government has so far only given SB$2 million, citing its poor cash flow situation.
  A further SB$6 million had been promised in mid-January, to boost the commission’s work. But at press time, the money had not arrived.
  Initially, officials had hoped to begin voter registration last December but the delays in funding pushed the start of the voter registration to the end of January.
  Despite these setbacks, Kenilorea is confident the commission can still carry out an effective voter registration campaign in time for the national elections.
  According to law, once the voters’ registration begins, officials will have a 60-day period to carry out the nation-wide voter registration programme.
  But Kenilorea acknowledges that the smooth running of the voter registration and election would depend on funding.
  “The Electoral Commission is very concerned because once the process begins, there is no turning back. Legally, there can be no chop and change.
  “We hope we will be fully financed by our government so that once the registration begins things will run smoothly.”
  The voter registration is scheduled to be completed by May 23—meeting the legal requirement of 60 days to register voters.
  Although the government’s financial situation is difficult, the Permanent Secretary of Home Affairs Fred Fakari says the Ministry of Finance has given an assurance that funding would be allocated.
  Kenilorea, who was the Solomon Islands’ first prime minister and now the Speaker of Parliament, as well as the chair of the Electoral Commission, says the commission would continue to carry out its works and rely on the government’s good faith.
  As part of its registration campaign, the commission will hire workers to carry out the voter registration where more than 700 registered officials will go to every house across the country to collect names.
  The process will occur in two phases—the first involves the registering of new names and the removal of old names that no longer live in the area.
  The second phase will be for people to verify that their names have been included in the list and the identification of names of people not from the area.
  In the past, voter registration officials in the provinces have been known to rely on members of the local community to collect registration information. This had resulted in anomalies in the voters list.
  This time around electoral authorities are adamant that there will be no repeat of this past experience.
  In a change of strategy, electoral officials have turned to deputy secretaries in the provincial governments to run the voter registration process in this year.
  The permanent secretary of home affairs says this is to ensure that registration is carried out properly and the final outcome is a credible voters list.
  As for moves to increase the number of constituencies ahead of the elections, parliament will decide on this at its March sitting. But electoral officials are confident that voter registration process will not be affected.
  The chief electoral officer Polycarp Haununu says if Parliament approves the changes, his office would simply adjust the boundaries in the database.
  “What will happen is we will shift the villages according to the new boundaries, so this shouldn’t create any problems for us.
  “The only thing we’ll do is put villages in the right place, according to the new constituencies.”
  Just exactly when the election date will be has yet to be finalised but with Parliament scheduled to be dissolved by midnight on April 24—the national elections according to law must happen within four months of the dissolution date.