Voters in Vanuatu line up at the Vanuatu Electoral Commission to verify their National ID cards. Photo: Koroi Hawkins/RNZ Pacific
The electoral commission in Vanuatu is trying its best to clear up some confusion with the voting process for Thursday's snap election.
Principal Electoral Officer Guilain Malessas said this is due to the tight turnaround to deliver this election after parliament was dissolved last year.
The Vanuatu Electoral Office has confirmed that 52 seats, across 18 constituencies, will be contested by 217 candidates, seven of which are women.
But Malessas said against all odds, preparations were almost complete.
The final ballot boxes are being deployed to the farthest polling stations in the country and final checks are being carried out.
He said the premature dissolution of parliament last year forced them to have to deliver an election a year early, and within a two-month timeframe, as required in the constitution.
Then last month's 7.3 magnitude quake struck and he said they have worked around the clock.
"The final challenge that remains is for us to make sure all the ballot boxes that we have deployed have reached all the polling stations safely.
"Also, there is the challenge of a new ballot structure which we have not had enough awareness on."
He said they haven't had enough time to conduct community awareness about the new system, and there is also new electoral legislation, which was passed in preparation for 2026 - the original date for the next election.
"With the new ballot structure you just have a single page with all the candidates and their symbols on it and you just have to tick the one you want," Malessas said.
"We have not had enough awareness.
"We have used all existing social media platforms but lots of people in rural areas do not have access to these things."
Malessas said they have had extra training for polling station officials to help voters on Thursday, and have printed lots of informational material to be posted up at polling stations.
He said election candidates have also been conducting awareness during their political campaigns.
With the 17 December earthquake forcing the relocation of many polling stations, they are also anticipating people turning up with national ID cards at the wrong polling stations.
To manage this, they will verify that the person is a resident of the constituency and that their ID card was issued before the close of voter registrations for this election on 3 December 2024.
