Chief Election Officer, Uiagalelei Dr. Lealofi Uiagalelei says his office is drafting an official response to candidate for Governor, Faoa Aitofele Sunia’s letter questioning the conduct of the Election Commissioner and some of his employees.
Reached by phone this afternoon, Uiagalelei declined to comment on any of the issues that Faoa raised in his September 1st letter.
He told KHJ News he is preparing a letter for the Faoa and Sanitoa team and we might not get a copy of it.
KHJ News reminded Uiagalelei that have aired a story about Faoa’s letter and he changed his mind saying that we wait until his response is completed and we will be given a copy.
The election commissioner declined to respond to any of the issues that Faoa raised.
In his letter, Faoa called into question the integrity of the election commissioner and members of his staff based on incidents that Faoa has seen and also reported by supporters.
He said that Uiagalelei, a good friend of Governor Lolo Moliga, provided refreshments for a campaign committee meeting for the Lolo and Lemanu re-election campaign.
He also questions Uiagalelei’s impartiality and integrity in conducting fair and unbiased elections when he and his staff hosted a cabinet meeting for the Lolo and Lemanu government.
In addition, Faoa said the Election Commissioner has been sighted on many occasions socializing and dining with Governor Lolo in public.
Faoa also asks that the Election Commissioner explain why a member of his staff delivered voter ID cards to a resident who didn’t request a renewal of his voter ID.
The staff member is the daughter of Governor Lolo’s Chief of Staff, Fiu Johnny Saelua, who is also co chair of Lolo’s re-election campaign.
Faoa says election law allows only the person to pick up their voter ID from the Election Office.
If they are unable to personally pick up the ID card, they need to submit a power of attorney authorization which must be notarized.
According to Faoa they will be filing a formal complaint but in the meantime he asked Uiagelelei to investigate and if warranted, the staffer should be removed immediately.
Asked if he can just respond to some of the points that Faoa raised, the Chief Election insisted that we wait until he’s done with his response to the gubernatorial team’s claims.
