Three-months out from Tonga's General Election on 27 November, the countdown to the big day has begun in Nuku'alofa.

Pita Vuki, the Supervisor of Elections said there were two changes to the electoral constituencies, according to the Electoral Boundaries Commission second determination of the electoral boundaries for the 2014 election of the 17 People's Representatives of the Legislative Assembly.

He said Mo'unga'one Island had been shifted from Ha'apai 13 to Ha'apai 12. While the villages of Koloa and Holeva had been shifted from Vava'u 14 to Vava'u 16.

The rest of the electoral boundaries remained the same, he said.

Despite the change in the electoral boundaries, it has been confirmed in the Tongan Parliament that the entitlement of these villages to their share of the constituency funding from the constituents that they have moved into would not be effective until after the November election.

Candidates

The registration of candidates will be held on October 23-24 from 10am to 3pm when candidates may pay a $400 pa’anga non-refundable fee to stand for election.

Pita said candidates were required to register as an elector first, in the constituency where they had been resident for a period of at least three months.

Meanwhile, voters registration is open until 19 September. Voters who live overseas need to come to Tonga if they want to vote.

He said every Tongan aged 21 years above who is not a noble is required under the Act to register as an elector and the registration is free of charge. “You don't need to register twice,” he said.

A total of 42,067 people registered to vote in Tonga's last General Election in 2010.