20 Jan 2016

Calls for Vanuatu Electoral Commission to clarify voting numbers

9:09 am on 20 January 2016

There are further calls in Vanuatu for the electoral commission to clarify who can vote this Friday and who cannot.

Jenny Ligo, from Vanuatu Women against Crime and Corruption, says many people were promised voting cards last year but have not received them in time for the snap election.

The Chairman of the Electoral Commission, John Killion Taleo, responded to criticism and claims that many young people haven't been able to enrol, saying as at June 2015, there were almost 10,000 more voters registered than the previous year.

Ballot box in a Vanuatu election.

Ballot box in a Vanuatu election. Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades

But Jenny Ligo says the numbers don't add up, with so many people, including youths, without voting cards.

"How did they get them to register? And then those who haven't, like there are more people who have not. The most concerned ones are the youth but I don't believe they are only the youth, because many people still claim that they do not have the cards, so I'm just wondering, something is still missing somewhere."

In 2014, 57 percent of Vanuatu was aged 24 or younger and many are concerned that number will be poorly represented at the voting booth on Friday.

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