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Fiji Events
Fijian Elections Office
Virtual Quiz Competitions
single online platform, thousand plus Voter education is no longer posters and
teams, 60 minutes marathon, and the pamphlets galore, it needs to be something that is
A winner takes all - that’s the Fijian Elections more engaging, something exciting, something that
Office, FEO ‘Know Your Election Quiz competition’. appeals to young people. The idea is to make the
The FEO took this new innovative approach to electoral process more youth-friendly. Our concept
engage with young voters in the election process in was simple; to get young people to learn more
between elections, and there was the prize money about elections and in doing so encourage them to
to it. participate meaningfully in the electoral process.
The FEO is responsible for the conduct of general However, this feat needed to start somewhere but
and other elections in Fiji. The FEO was established more than that it had to be incentivized. Thus began
as a permanent EMB to be operational throughout the ‘Know Your Election Quiz’ competitions.
the electoral cycle following the approval of the In September 2020, the FEO launched the very
Electoral Act, 2014. This was the first time for Fiji first virtual quiz competition in commemoration
to have a full-time EMB which would be mandated of the International Day of Democracy. It was a
with conducting voter registration, education, and competition no less with cash prizes to be won
awareness in between elections. and the FEO had to ensure that above all else, the
competition was conducted in a fair and transparent
manner. A set of terms and conditions were drawn
up which prohibited FEO staff and their immediate
family members from participating.
As the competition was initially designed for
young people, it relied exclusively on social media
for its promotion and marketing. The Supervisor of
Elections announced the quiz competition during
a Facebook live feed and immediately after his
After the 2018 Fijian General Election, the FEO announcement registrations for the Quiz opened.
for the first time conducted a voter turnout analysis To maximize reach and participation, interested
and followed it up with a nationwide post-election individuals were required to form teams of two in
voter survey. The results from the analysis and order to participate in the Quiz competition. Over
survey revealed that the youth as in voters aged time, we had mother-son duos, father-daughter
between 18-30 years had the lowest turnout. The teams as well as spouses and friends who won the
low turnout of young people in elections is not competition.
an issue that is unique to Fiji, many democracies The teams registered themselves online and
around the world are grappling with it as well and registration was typically open for five days during
global trends reflect the same. Nonetheless, it which the FEO promoted the Quiz competition
became more apparent that EMBs must continue to vigorously on its social media platforms through
find ways to make voter education more interesting videos, live appearances from the Supervisor of
and tap into opportunities to engage with young Elections, infographics, and so forth. After the
voters. close of registrations, the FEO teams conducted
October 2022 | VoICE International | 57