Pacific / American Samoa

Two-thousand names purged from list of American Samoa voters

12:13 pm on 29 April 2020

The names of 2,000 people in American Samoa were purged from the list of registered voters after the last elections in 2016 because they had not cast ballots in two consecutive polls.

Election commissioner lealofi Uiagalelei said people who had voted in a foreign election were also purged.

Voters had been notified if they want to vote in the November elections they need to re-register.

The commissioner estimates the number of registered voters after the purge is around 14,000 but he expects it to increase to 17,000 by the time votes are cast on the 10 November.

Up for grabs are the seats of Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Delegate to the US Congress and 20 of the 21 seats of the American Samoa House of Representatives.

The Swains Island seat is selected by consensus of descendants from the island.