The Office of the Electoral Commission has recorded the highest number of Samoa election candidates at the close of nominations.
Electoral Commissioner Toleafoa Tuiafelolo John Stanley said 191 candidates registered at the close of registrations in 2021 there were 187 candidates, with 164 in 2016 and 127 in 2001.
Of the 191 candidates, 24 are women. There are 15,000 unregistered voters but Toleafoa saod the number might be reduced after the names of voters who had died since the last election were cleared from the roll.
“We are using the number provided by the 2021 census which is 177, 225 voters to be registered, however, that number remains and we expect will drop after we clear the names of deceased from the roll,” said Toleafoa.
The Faatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) has put forward 61 candidates while the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) has named 52 in the race for 51 seats.
Ousted Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa’s new Samoa Uniting Democratic Party (SUP) will contest the polls in 26 constituencies while Samoa Labour Party (SLP) will run for six seats.
There are 44 independent candidates while Tumua ma Pule Reform Republican (TPRRP) and the Samoa Democratic Republican Party (SDRP) will each field one candidate.
The electoral commission will hire 1700 people for the polls which open on August 29.