The Solomon Islands Taskforce on Electoral Reform on Wednesday 31st April and Thursday 1st of June 2023, held a two-day consultation with Members of Parliament.
This consultation aims at informing members of the parliament of the proposed amendments to the Electoral Act 2018 and the changes to the electoral provisions of the Honiara City Act and the Provincial Government Act to align with the Electoral Act 2018.
The Acting Chairperson of the Commission Mrs Taeasi Sanga welcomed and acknowledged members of the Parliament and highlights the importance of the Electoral Reform Taskforce to hear from parliamentarians their views of these electoral proposals.
“Members of Parliament are the Law Makers and it is critical that they understand these proposed amendments in order to share their informed views about the changes”, Mrs. Taeasi said.
The discussions over the two days cover areas on the suggestion to redefine ordinarily resident which sets the basis for a Solomon Island citizen who turns 18 years of age to register in a constituency where he or she is connected by the definition of the ordinarily resident.
Other areas discussed include campaign expenses, hours of voting, batch counting, election petitions, and use of government resources by the Solomon Islands Electoral Office during elections.
MPs generally support key government proposals such as continuous voter registration and out-of-constituency voting which the Commission will implement when it has the resources to do so.
The Chairlady of the Electoral Reform Taskforce, on behalf of the Electoral Commission and Taskforce, thanked the MPs for their time and active participation in sharing invaluable views during the two days consultations.
The MPs’ consultation session concludes the Electoral Reform Taskforce’s scheduled consultations in the country.
The Taskforce on Electoral Reform consulted the 9 provincial assemblies and stakeholders in the respective provinces, the Honiara City Councillors, the Permanent Secretaries, and other Honiara stakeholders including the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce (SICCI), civil society organizations representatives, and community leaders in and around Honiara on the proposed electoral reforms.
The Acting Chairperson of the Commission, on behalf of the Electoral Commission and Taskforce, thanked the MPs, the MPAs, the Councillors, the PS, and the stakeholders who were part of the consultations and who have shared their views on these electoral reforms since March 2022.
The members of the Electoral Taskforce are
The Electoral Commission and the Taskforce would like to acknowledge the continuous support of the Solomon Islands Government in collaboration with its donor partners the Australian Government and UNDP through the SECSIP project for funding the work of the Taskforce
If you want to know more on any election-related matter or check-up for new updates on Election happenings, follow SIEO’s Facebook @SIelectoralcommission page and website at www.siec.gov.sb Or for general inquiries, you can call the office hotline phone at 7222200 or landline 21198.
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-SIEC PRESS