57% of Samoan citizens aged 21 and over have registered for the 2025 General Election.
This percentage translates to 66,333 fully registered voters.
This means that 43% who are eligible — approximately 50,892 people — are still yet to register.
The total number of Samoan citizens eligible to vote this year is 117,225.
This figure is lower compared to the final roll of the 2021 General Election, which had 127,983 registered voters.
Tuiafelolo Alexander John Stanley, Commissioner of the Office of the Electoral Commission, told Savali that since Parliament was dissolved, there has been a steady stream of people turning up to register early for this year’s General Election.
On average, between 400 to 600 people per day have been registering.
The Commissioner stressed that people must be aware the law is not optional. If the roll closes and someone has not registered, they may face a fine of $2,000 under legal provisions.
The second round of the Electoral Commission’s outreach has just concluded in villages and districts across Savai‘i, following a similar programme earlier in Upolu. This effort has been ongoing for several months, though some members of the public had not taken it seriously until now.
The Commission is urging all eligible citizens to register promptly, with just four weeks remaining before the electoral roll officially closes.
Tuiafelolo also confirmed that under the 2019 Electoral Act, if a person refuses to pay the $2,000 fine, the matter will go to court and they will be held accountable for breaching the law.
He added that the Constitution allows only three months to prepare for a General Election after Parliament is dissolved. In this case, the 17th Parliament was dissolved after 34 MPs voted down the 2025|2026 Main Budget presented last month by the Prime Minister and Cabinet, with only 16 MPs supporting it at the first reading.
This article was originally published by Savali Newspaper on its FB page in Sāmoan and has been republished with permission.
