Pre-polling for 127 voters who registered to vote on Wednesday in the Gagaifomauga No. 2 by-election is underway in Savai'i with the election scheduled for this Friday.

Two polling booths have been set up within the constituency while the Office of the Electoral Commission (O.E.C.) opted not to set up a voting booth for pre-polling in Upolu. 

This was confirmed by the Assistant Chief Executive Officer of the O.E.C. Unasa Charles Ah Poe, during a live-stream video from a pre-polling booth in Savai'i, Faletagaloa Safune. 

Eligible voters who registered for pre-polling starting lining up outside of the Congregational Christian Church Samoa (C.C.C.S.) hall at Faletagaloa, Safune 8:30am on Wednesday morning. 

Those who are eligible for pre-polling are the elderly population as well as people with disabilities in the constituency of Gagaifomauga No. 2.

According to Unasa, a total of 12 people from Gagaifomauga No.2., who are residing in Upolu had requested to vote in the pre-polling on Wednesday. 

However, the office opted not to set up a polling booth for pre-polling for Upolu residence. Those who requested from Upolu will get their chance to vote in Upolu at the special polling booths set up on Friday.

Pre-polling booths will close at 4pm on Wednesday with the ballot boxes to be moved to the Police Headquarters in Savai'i at Tuasivi. 

The boxes will be kept there until the official counting on Saturday morning. 

The results of pre-polling will not be announced on Wednesday, however, a tally on how many votes were cast will be released. 

The electoral roll for the constituency of Gagaifomauga No. 2 shows that a total of 2,031 people have registered to vote. However, in the last election in April last year only 1,447 people cast their votes during the election. 

This means that about 39 per cent of Gagaifomauga No.2., did not vote in the general election last year. 

A total of 13 polling booths have been set up for the main election on Friday. There are four candidates vying for the seat in Savai'i.