Supervisor of Elections Ana Mataiciwa says the Fijian Elections Office (FEO) will no longer use its mobile app to release results in the next general election, citing confusion and pressure on results teams during the 2022 polls.
Speaking before the Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights, Ana Mataiciwa said the app, which was introduced for the 2022 General Election, had caused inconsistencies in result updates.
“The app created confusion for stakeholders because sometimes the app had different results, our website had different results, and what we provided to our media stakeholders was also different,” she said.
She added that the constant need to upload data placed unnecessary pressure on staff.
“With the app, you have to be constantly uploading the results. That put pressure on our results team, which meant some of the verification processes were compromised.”
In response to the challenges, the FEO plans to bring back the media center used in earlier elections, allowing journalists to access verified results directly from the national results center.
“For the upcoming general election, we are planning to bring back the media center so media stakeholders can get live updates as results come in.”
