Many voters queuing in the heat in Fiji

Transcript

There are a few hours of voting to go in Fiji's first election day in more than eight years.

Many voters rushed early to voting stations to avoid the heat of the day, but some became impatient in Nadi as staff shortages at some stations led to long queues forming outside.

Our reporter Sally Round has been in Nadi with voters and spoke to Alex Perrottet a short time ago.

SALLY ROUND: I started the day very early and I met up with a couple who were very keen to be the first in line to vote, so I went with them to the polling station, and they didn't actually get to be the first in line, but they were pretty close. And by quarter to seven there were about 90 people in the queue waiting in the trees, waiting under the shade of the trees, to get into the booth. And so then the queue started forming from then on. So it seems people are pretty keen to get out there and vote.

ALEX PERROTTET: Now there was a lot of talk earlier on about the police concerned and even the military concerned of unrest and even people going to shops to stock up in case there's some post-election unrest. Are you getting that kind of vibe from the people you speak to who are lining up in the heat to vote today?

SR: Well the mood appears to be very serious. You don't see a lot of smiles, people just seem very determined to have their say. And I sat in actually in a polling station as one of the observers, a media observer, alongside three political party agents, watching people come in the door, led through by the officers in charge there and through the whole process. They had a look of real determination on their faces, not many smiles, I have to say. It's a very hot day here so these queues that have been forming outside have been snaking under verandahs and then out into the sunshine and the people who have got umbrellas are lucky but some of them are carrying babies and so on, who had been waiting quite a while in the searing it. But it seems a very efficient process, indeed I spoke fleetingly to one observer who said at the polling station he went to he was impressed with the efficiency of it and he had been told there had been an 80 percent turnout at that particular station. The polling station I went to, tempers had started to fray a little bit because of this heat situation and they weren't moving fast enough and indeed at this polling booth they seemed to be a bit short of staff and in fact the presiding officer had to go out and calm the people standing outside saying 'look we're doing the best we can, we'll move you through but we are a bit short-staffed here so just be patient.'