Samoa’s Snap Election Results Awaited as Count Begins Monday

Preliminary results are still emerging from Samoa’s snap election, with the official counting set to commence on Monday. According to Toleafoa Tuiafelolo Alexander Stanley, Samoa’s electoral commissioner, the finalized results are anticipated by next Friday. This election has been characterized as one of the most unpredictable in the nation’s history, primarily due to a split within the governing party that resulted in the collapse of caretaker Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa‘s minority government.

As of Friday night, unofficial results indicated that Fiame’s former FAST Party was leading, followed closely by the HRPP. The newly established SUP Party, also led by Fiame, trailed behind both. The electoral process in Samoa requires that results only be made official once the head of state issues the writ.

Counting and Voter Participation

Toleafoa confirmed that counting will be conducted manually, and a mini server is being utilized to address issues that arose during the last election in 2021. “The use of the channel and this thing called Mac box is really a mini server for the solution from what happened in 2021,” he explained. “No one can vote twice; if someone voted in one constituency and then went to another, the service would pick it up and flag it.”

The commissioner noted that the counting process will take a week to complete, with special votes and pre-polling set to be counted on Saturday. Although voter turnout figures were not available as of Friday night, over 100,000 eligible voters were expected to participate in the election.

Voting in Samoa is mandatory, and the Electoral Commission has emphasized that individuals in line at the close of polling will still be permitted to vote. However, they have warned that those registered to vote but failing to cast a ballot will face penalties.

As the nation awaits the official results, the focus remains on the implications of this election, which may reshape Samoa’s political landscape.