By Martha Taumata Faavae
Whoever is spreading misinformation that questions the integrity of the general elections is not going to get far with the Office of the Electoral Commissioner.
The most recent run of pre-election distortions were claims that RSE-workers voted before they left Samoa on contract.
Electoral Commissioner Faimalomatumua Mathew Lemisio and his staff pounced on the claims quickly to stamp them out before they do any damages.
“ We haven’t even printed ballot papers for voters to tick on until the deadline for all election candidates’ withdrawal of nominations on Friday 26 March 2021, ” Commissioner Faimalomatumua scoffed.
“This is deliberate misinformation being spread as we head off into our polling week.”
The Commissioner is aware of a scheduled flight for RSE workers leaving on Wednesday 7th April 2021, and they are allowed to pre-poll when it officials starts on Monday 5th April 2021.
Faimalomatumua urged the public to ask the OEC office directly for an information or clarification of what they heard or are told to be certain of their facts.
“The only place for the right information is our OEC office, phone in or make enquiries with our FACEBOOK page to receive an accurate briefing.”
The OEC staff has been utilising all local mediums including social media to clarify issues many of the voters are unaware of.
Pre-polling for people with special needs and essential services created a few early niggling issues when officials from election camps became involved with the registration of voters.
The OEC staff were forced to personally attend to the registration requirements for pre-polling voters.