VOTER registration has been extended in certain areas for another 14 days.
Chief Electoral Officer Polycarp Haununu confirmed this on Wednesday in light of the flood disaster.
“The registration process which was scheduled to start on Monday 10th March and end on Friday 18th April is now extended to Friday 2nd May, 2014,” Mr Haununu said.
He indicated that unforeseen operational and administrative challenges at the initial stages of the exercise coupled with the unprecedented weather conditions last week from Wednesday to Friday has necessitated the extension.
In Honiara and Guadalcanal more generally, a state of emergency was declared.
Consequently, registration activities had to be suspended in most areas until the weather condition improves.
Mr Haununu said other areas that will be affected in this extension includes; some areas in the Western Province and some constituencies in the Malaita Province.
“In East Kwaio, for example our officials were barred from working at the beginning of the exercise for a week and it is fair that eligible electors in Kwaio are not dis-enfranchised but given the opportunity to register to vote,” he said.
Mr Haununu directed that, all registered voters’ especially in Honiara who have their Voter ID Cards missing as a result of the floods do not need to re-register again since their voter information is already captured in the Commission’s database.
“Re- registration by voters with missing cards will amount to doing double registration which is an offence according to the electoral laws and a victim will be subject to a fine,” the chief electoral office said.
He however indicated that, if your voter ID card is missing you will be allowed to vote on Election Day since your name, photograph and other voter information will appear same on the final Voters’ register.
“Identifying you on the polling day will therefore not be a problem.
“What is important is for all registered voters to go to the Voter Registration Centres where they registered during the second phase of the Biometric Voter Registration (ie Exhibition of the Provisional list) to locate their names and voter information if they appeared correctly.”
The timeline for electoral activities during the Exhibition of the Provisional list will be communicated to the general public in due course.
Mr Huanunu urged all eligible electors who could not register during the first and the fourth phases of the Biometric Voter Registration to take advantage of the extension facility or lose out.
