A special ferry service that was to depart from the Matautu Wharf Thursday morning for Savai'i was unable to take more than 200 officials to Savai'i.  

The trip on the MV Lady Naomi that took off around 10am Thursday morning was only able to take 200 officials including police officers and ballot boxes for the big island. 

A shipping official at the Matautu Wharf informed the waiting passengers that the ferry could only accommodate 200 passengers with the rest advised to divert to go to the main Mulifanua Wharf to travel to Savai'i. 

Some of the officials were then transported to an overcrowded Mulifanua Wharf. 

In a recent interview with the Electoral Commissioner, Faimalomatumua Mathew Lemisio, he confirmed that about 2,300 officials in addition to his O.E.C. team are being deployed for election. 

He said there are more than 100 locations for pre-polling and 430 locations (an increase of almost 200 from last election) for Friday’s General Election. 

Reports from the Mulifanua Wharf show the port being overwhelmed with vehicles and travelers heading for Savai’i, while reports from Salelologa Wharf showed that there was a large group of voters stranded, because there were no buses running on a public holiday. 

Some travellers waited for hours upon their arrival in Savai'i after arriving on the 8am ferry from Mulifanua.

The MV Lady Naomi arrived at Mulifanua Wharf about 2pm, with their cargo of ballot boxes and election officials.

The Samoa Shipping Corporation has put out a schedule to advise where three vessels are making trips for Thursday and the Friday public holidays.  

The vessels are MV Lady Samoa III, MV Samoa Express II and MV Fotu-o-Samoa. 

Figures from the Electoral Commission confirm that some 3800 voters registered in Savai’i, reside in Upolu. New electoral laws make it compulsory for voters to cast their votes in their registered constituencies.