2 Sep 2010

Tonga's new electoral roll due out next week

5:32 pm on 2 September 2010

Voter registration for Tonga's November the 25th election has now closed and the final roll is due to be printed next Thursday.

The election will see Tongans vote for a majority of the country's MPs for the first time.

The Supervisor of Elections, Pita Vuki, says a new registration programme was started in June with a provisional roll printed in July.

He says because the constituencies are new some voters needed clarification of the boundaries when registering and they will be able to check this on the final roll.

"Yes we will distribute the final roll to every village through our district internal offices and of course our office in the outer islands, for people to visit there and check that their names are there."

Pita Vuki says people turning twenty one between now and election day can register on the supplementary roll, along with voters who may need to make corrections.

He says nominations for candidates will open in October but there is already plenty of interest.