$20k penalty for illegal campaign

BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO

ENGAGING in campaigning activity outside campaign period will faces a penalty of $20,000 or two years imprisonments or both.

This is one of the changes under the newly passed Electoral Act 2018 in section (124) in reference to Engaging in campaign activity outside campaign period

Chief Executive Officer of the Solomon Islands Electoral Commissioner (SIEC) said that according to the Act is stated that person who engages in any campaigning activity in relation outside the campaign period for the election commits an offence.

CEO Saitala uttered some of the campaign activity stated in the Act may be nay of the following;

  • Conducting a demonstration or procession,
  • Making or publishing a statement,
  • Speech or advertisement,
  • Conducting a public opinion poll,
  • Distributing anything (including a document that imitates a ballot paper) that has on it
  • The names of candidates and any direction or indication as to the candidate a person should vote for.
  • Anything else intended, calculated or likely to influence a person’s vote,
  • Displaying the name of a candidate or political party,
  • Emblem, slogan, logo or symbol,
  • Distributing ribbons, streamers, rosettes, or items of a similar nature in a candidate’s or political party’s colours and
  • Making oral representations to a person.

He said this new change is already effective after it was passed.

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