1 Sep 2008

Vanuatu Electoral Commission expecting smooth election day

10:21 am on 1 September 2008

Vanuatu is gearing up for general elections tomorrow, and the Electoral Commission is confident everything will go smoothly.

A record 341 candidates, from more than 25 parties, and 80 independents will contest this year's election.

The principal electoral officer, Martin Tete, says polling booths close at 4:30, and votes will take some hours to count.

But he says there should be an unofficial result by early on Wednesday morning.

"It depends on the number of listed voters, for smaller polling stations, about 8 o'clockor 9 o'clock, we should have an unofficial resultof the polling station, but with the larger polling stations normally we pick them up about ten or 11 o'clock."