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Samoans living abroad must complete their full voter registration by 4 July if they wish to vote in the country's upcoming general election.
Samoa's Electoral Commissioner, Toleafoa Tuiafelolo John Stanley, said while online registration is still available for overseas voters, completing the process requires a physical return to Samoa to provide biometric data, including fingerprints and photographs.
But he said the electoral office was "doing fine" to be ready.
"Before the early dissolution of parliament, the voter registration was 48 percent. As we speak, just looking at that system right now, 2pm [10 June] the voter registration is now 60 percent.
"The number of voters registered is 70,395."
The electoral roll will close on 4 July. People have been turning up in droves to register.
"You should see the booths right now - there's heaps of people coming in," Toleafoa said.
"Last night, the booths closed at 11. That's when they completed everybody - 11pm. But we were supposed to close at eight. My staff had to work overtime just to make sure everybody was registered."
Toleafoa also confirmed that a bill which would have enabled overseas voting was not passed before Parliament dissolved. This means the Electoral Act 2019 remains in force and votes have to be cast in Samoa.
"That bill hasn't been discussed by Parliament - so parliament [has] been dissolved and the bill is still hanging there."
Eligible overseas voters are urged to take immediate steps if they intend to vote. Those who register but fail to vote may face a penalty of SAT$100.
According to the Electoral Office, total online registrations currently stand at 5060, spanning 14 countries from the United States and Italy to the Philippines.
Of the online registrations, the total comes to 2,893, with 2,167 fully completed.
Out of the online registrations, Samoa has 2756 incomplete and 2157 completed registrations from the online re-registrations
From New Zealand, 73 online registrations are incomplete, and 5 are completed, and their cousins from Australia have 41 incomplete, and 1 completed.
The total number of overseas individuals who have registered online is 147; out of that number, only 10 have been fully registered, with 137 incomplete.
To date (today) there are now 72,824 voter registrations completed in Samoa which means there are 44,401 more to register up until July 4th.
The election date itself is 29 August.
The Electoral Office submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court seeking an extension for the elections, to allow more preparation time, but this request was denied.
The country's political turbulence started in January and Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa faced two votes of no confidence, her first on 25 February and her second on 6 March.
But last month she conceded defeat after her government's budget was voted down.
Parliament was formally dissolved on 3 June.
More dates were confirmed on Wednesday.
For political hopefuls, key time frames include 7-12 July when candidate nominations must be made.
Following that, any candidates who are nominated and have a change of heart must withdraw by noon, 14 August.
A pre-polling day has been set for 27 August.
The timetable also states the official count will take place over five days, from Monday 1 September, with official results expected 5 September.
