Fiji 2022 General Election
December 14, 2022
FijiFirst won the largest vote and 26 of 55 seats but lost its majority. A four-hour anomaly in the public provisional-results app became the central integrity controversy. Observer evidence separates that incident from the legal count: the app displayed a wrongly transferred provisional dataset, while official results were produced later from original polling-station protocols through a blind double-entry process. The Multinational Observer Group found speculation that the glitch enabled an official re-tabulation unfounded. SODELPA then backed a People's Alliance–NFP coalition, and Parliament elected Sitiveni Rabuka prime minister by 28 votes to 27.
Official results
- FijiFirst42.6%200,246
26 seats
- The People's Alliance35.8%168,581
21 seats
- National Federation Party8.9%41,830
5 seats
- SODELPA5.1%24,172
3 seats
The Integrity Ledger
What the evidence establishes, and what it does not — side by side, each finding sourced and tiered.
What is established
- Process violationsConfirmed
The provisional-results app displayed incorrect data for roughly four hours on election night.
More detail
The election authority's review described a human transfer error: the wrong dataset was copied from the results-management system into the public app. The app was taken offline and restored with corrected provisional data. Even though it was not the legal tally, the incident was a real communication and verification failure in a close election.
What is not established
- Result falsificationDebunked
The app anomaly did not provide evidence that officials re-tabulated or changed the official result.
More detail
The provisional display and the official count were separate processes. The MOG observed the official tabulation from original polling-station protocols, which used blind double entry, audit triggers and party access to records. It assessed speculation that the app incident created an opportunity to re-tabulate the official result as unfounded.
Sources:1 - Statistical anomaliesDebunked
The abrupt change in the app's provisional trend was a corrected display error, not a vote-swing time series.
More detail
Provisional totals were reset when the wrong transferred dataset was removed. Treating the before-and-after screen values as successive batches of counted votes creates a false statistical series. The legal result came from a new final tally based on original protocols, not from continuing the erroneous app display.
Process assessment
The public-results incident was serious because the app was meant to make a close count understandable in real time. It was also bounded: observers could distinguish the faulty provisional display from the later official double-entry tally and access to polling-station records. Final seat allocation produced no majority, and government formation was resolved through a one-vote parliamentary ballot and peaceful transfer.