The one-day by-elections for three constituencies have an hour left for their respective voters to cast their ballots before the polling booths close.

The Siumu, Faleata No. 4  and Va'a-o-Fonoti by-elections were triggered after their Members of Parliament who were initially part of the Human Rights Protection Party (H.R.P.P.) resigned from the party late last year. 

The polling booths will close at 3 pm Friday and as of 1 pm this afternoon, only 52 per cent of the registered voters from the three constituencies have cast their votes. 

In Siumu, this newspaper caught up with Atina Okesene Tupitu, his wife Fa'alavelave Tupitu and daughter Tekauita Tupitu after they cast their votes. 

In an interview with the Samoa Observer, Atina said he had hoped that they would not be heading back to the polls to choose their elected representative.

"To be honest, we all thought we would agree that Tu'uu would continue being the M.P. for the remainder of this term," Atina said. "When we were informed that his seat was vacated, we initially agreed to back him and support him. 

I mean 2026 is just around the corner so we thought, why not just let him finish this term, then we can elect another one in the upcoming elections. However, we cannot stop other fellow matai who want to contest the seat of our constituency."

Atina said whoever wins will have his support, saying: "It does not matter if the person I voted for does not win. I exercised my right as a citizen to vote but whatever the results will be, I will be supporting whoever will represent our district. 

"Some people only get to vote once every five years but for us, we are happy to vote again and see what people feel about the current situation. 

"The results will speak for what they feel."

According to Atina, the by-elections and the general election are very important parts of Samoa's democracy. 

The preliminary results will be announced by the Office of the Electoral Commission (OEC) after all the polling booths are closed with the official count to be conducted tomorrow.