By Martha Faavae Taumata
The official count of the 2021 General Election ballot gets underway tomorrow, Monday 12 April 2021 at the Tuanaimato Control Centre.
The preliminary count started at the close of polling in the late afternoon on Friday until it was completed on Saturday morning.
A second preliminary count followed later in the afternoon of special votes under the eyes of scrutineers, on duty police officers and the Office of the Electoral Commissioners staff.
The vote boxes were opened by the police and voters called out for the scrutineers to note.
The ballot papers were replaced into ballot boxes and stored to be included in the official count of the whole election on Monday.
The ballot boxes are stored in the open floor of the Tuanaimato Control Centre gymnasium under 24 hour police watch and security cameras.