Some villagers had to spend hundreds of dollars to travel for hours from Suva to be part of pre-polling voting at their respective villages on the island of Kadavu.
With pre-poll voting starting yesterday, hundreds of villagers lined up to cast their votes at the 15 polling stations on the island.
The polling stations were also monitored by police officers.
The Fiji Times team spoke to Saula Samuta who was among the 114 registered to vote in the village of Dravuwalu in the district of Naceva.
“I was in Suva so I left on board the Lomaiviti Princess on Friday night and arrived here on Saturday morning,” the 58-year-old said.
“To come here, it cost me $43 in boat fare and another $100 to hire a boat from Vunisea Jetty to bring me to the village.
“I had no choice but to come and vote in Dravuwalu because this is the place where I was registered to vote in this year’s elections.”
The former military officer said his return trip would cost him the same amount.
