VOTER REGISTRATION CENTRES

OBJECTIVES To map 1150 voter registration centres Assign a unique code to a VRC VRC Database Spatially linked table data to map elements List of uniquely coded VRC’s. Also to investigate methods of maximizing the capacity of each VRC to hold electronic voter registration (EVR).

DATASETS Fiji Topographical Map used as backdrop - SOPAC BOS Enumeration Area Map – 2007 Census 11 yr old population data – 2007 Census VRC Database – Elections VRC Field Survey Reports - Elections

RAW DATA

CONVERT TO ACCESS

MapInfo Database opened in MapInfo Assigned x and y coordinates Table to be mappable Digitised on point symbol.

Assigned x & y

COMPLETE PLOTTING

LIST OF VRC IN UNIQUE INDEX CRC 0001 – Annesley Sch C –CENTRAL DIVISION RC – REGISTRATION CENTRE 0001 – 1 ST VRC nearest to Elections Office

Voter Population

CREATING THIESSEN/ VORONOI POLYGONS FOR VOTER REGISTRATION CENTRES, FIJI INTRODUCTION: Organizing national events such as a General Election requires enormous efforts by both the general public and the office of Elections. Cost and time effective methods are often needed to maneuver and ensure the smooth running of the election process, and with ArcGIS this is possible. One such method is creating Thiessen Polygons. These polygons boundaries define the area that is closest to each point relative to all other points and are defined by bisecting of the lines between all points (in this case points will be Voter Registration Centres- VRC). Creating zones using the Thiessen (Voronoi) polygon from VRC points will ensure that each centre is being used to its capacity (or lack thereof). INTRODUCTION: Organizing national events such as a General Election requires enormous efforts by both the general public and the office of Elections. Cost and time effective methods are often needed to maneuver and ensure the smooth running of the election process, and with ArcGIS this is possible. One such method is creating Thiessen Polygons. These polygons boundaries define the area that is closest to each point relative to all other points and are defined by bisecting of the lines between all points (in this case points will be Voter Registration Centres- VRC). Creating zones using the Thiessen (Voronoi) polygon from VRC points will ensure that each centre is being used to its capacity (or lack thereof). OBJECTIVE: To investigating methods of maximising capacity of Voter Registration Centres in Fiji using ArcGIS and Spatial Analysis. OBJECTIVE: To investigating methods of maximising capacity of Voter Registration Centres in Fiji using ArcGIS and Spatial Analysis. METHODS: From the point shapefile that represented the VRCs, a Voronoi polygon was created. The output was then clipped with the coast shapefile and intersected with the Enumeration Area for Census From the attribute table in the 2007 Census, several fields were created so calculating the number of people within these intersected area: TotalEA_Area Int_Area: Int_Pop: Prop_Area METHODS: From the point shapefile that represented the VRCs, a Voronoi polygon was created. The output was then clipped with the coast shapefile and intersected with the Enumeration Area for Census From the attribute table in the 2007 Census, several fields were created so calculating the number of people within these intersected area: TotalEA_Area Int_Area: Int_Pop: Prop_Area RESULTS: CONCLUSION: After the completion of this project, the method of creating Thiessen/ Voronoi polygons to determine how to maximize the capacity of voting registration centers by coupling it with enumeration area data was understood better. Special Thanks to Fiji Elections Office and John Lowry, Conway Pene of University of the South Pacific CONCLUSION: After the completion of this project, the method of creating Thiessen/ Voronoi polygons to determine how to maximize the capacity of voting registration centers by coupling it with enumeration area data was understood better. Special Thanks to Fiji Elections Office and John Lowry, Conway Pene of University of the South Pacific DISCUSSION: From the map, one was able to determine the number of people that each voting centre can accommodate, according to the 2007 Census. This would benefit the elections office as it would help prepare each individual centre according to the number of people that it can accommodate. However, it should also be noted that the results shown are susceptible to change considering the changing population of the nation. Nemaia Koto (s ) GS350, Semester II: USP

FIELD SURVEY on VRC Visit VRC on site Collect data Analyze Reporting

FUTURE Network Analysis to show distance of VRC to another – Roads etc Ongoing/updated GIS database for VRC/Polling Station

Special Thanks: SOPAC Team (Wolfe & Edwin). USP ( Conway Pene and student Nemia Koto) Elections Office ( EVR Team)