With only a month to go before the Tonga General Election on November 27, the nomination of candidates will be held this week on October 23-24.

The Commissioner and Supervisor of Elections Pita Vuki said today that nomination/registration for Tongatapu opens from 10:00am to 3:00pm on both days at the Tonga Electoral Commission office.

He said the nomination in the outer islands will be held at the Governor's offices in Vava’u and Ha’apai and at the Government Representatives offices in ‘Eua and the two Niuas.

After 3:00pm on Friday, October 24 candidates will draw for anumber that determines the order in which their names will appear on the ballot papers.

“I will announce the full list of candidates on the same evening,” Pita said.

 Eligibility

Persons eligible to run for the election must be registered voters in the constituency they contest in.

They must pay a $400 pa'anga non-refundable fee, complete a nomination form that must include not less than 50 signatures of registered voters from their constituency. They must also submit letters from both the Magistrate's Court and Supreme Court to confirm they do not have any outstanding debts with the courts, he said.

Pita said civil servants who wished to run must resign before the nomination dates and they would screen all nomination forms to make sure these requirements were in order.

The General Election will be held on November 27, 2014 with 169 polling stations throughout Tonga.