Tonga Electoral Commission : Election Process
Organisation : Tonga Electoral Commission
Facility : Election Process
Country : Tonga
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Election Process : http://tongaelections.com/index.php/elections/election-process
Home Page : http://www.tongaelections.com/
Election Process :
The Electoral Commission was established by the Electoral Commission Act 2010 as the first independent body to be responsible primarily for the management and administration of National Elections in Tonga.
Related : Tonga Electoral Commission Election Types : www.electionin.org/799.html
That role was further extended to include Local Elections (District and Town Officers elections) as well as other election such as the election of the Board members for the newly established National Retirement Fund Board in which the Commission provided assistance in the process.
1. How are Voting being facilitated :
(1) Every employer shall allow any person employed by him on polling day sufficient time off work with full pay to enable that employee to vote at the nearest polling station for the district in which he is registered.
(2) An employer who fails to comply with this section is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding $500.
2. Procedure on voting :
On polling day an elector will, from the list of candidates on the ballot paper, choose ONE and only one by placing a tick in the circle opposite the candidate of your choice.
(1) The ballot paper shall be in the general form of form 5 of the Schedule hereto and shall show on the face of it the names and addresses of the candidates.
(2) After checking against the final roll that the elector is entitled to vote the returning officer shall cross out the elector’s name on the roll, initial at the back of the ballot paper and then hand the ballot paper to him.
(3) The elector shall retire to a voting cubicle or some private space in the voting area and mark his ballot paper by placing a mark (images) in the spaces beside the name of his/her preferred candidate. Provided that no ballot paper shall be rejected as invalid if it clearly indicates the candidate or candidates for whom the elector intended to vote, whether that indication is made in the manner prescribed by this section or otherwise.
(4) After marking his ballot paper the elector shall fold the paper and deposit it in the ballot box.
(5) Subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply to nobles’ elections.
3. Counting the Ballot :
After the close of the poll the Returning Officer at each Polling Station will open the ballot box and count the ballot papers. The papers will be counted by candidate and at the end of the count the Returning Officer will announce the number of votes received by each candidate for that station, together with any votes that are void. The result from each polling station is transmitted to each District Office, who compiles the result by Constituency and forward it to the Supervisor of Elections.
4. Void ballot papers :
Any ballot paper on which votes are given for more than the required number of representatives to be elected for that electoral constituency shall be void and not counted.