The president of the organisation Vanuatu Youth Against Corruption, Priscilla Meto, says more than 70 percent of people who turned 18 after the last election in 2012 will be unable to vote on Friday. She says this is because the nature of the snap election means the Electoral Commission has been unable to issue new electoral cards to many of those people. Ms Meto says this is unfair as it means more than 3,000 young people will not be able to exercise their right to vote, and will have to wait until 2020 to be heard. “It will be very unfair because most of the youth will not be casting their vote to participate in this election to show what they want during this snap election.”
The chairman of the Commonwealth secretariat’s observer mission says Friday’s snap elections in Vanuatu is a significant one for the country and will pose many challenges.
Hubert Ingraham, who is the former prime minister of the Bahamas, says the election’s sudden nature means the organisation only had a few days to assemble a five-person observer team.
However, despite the team being smaller than a usual observer mission, he is satisfied it will be able to adequately monitor nationwide and determine whether the elections meet democratic standards.
Full Article: Thousands of Vanuatu youth denied chance to vote | Radio New Zealand News.