The 2025 General Election has been a roller coaster ride so far. Among the election officials are scrutineers representing different political parties. For many, it was their first experience helping with the vote-counting process.

For Faith Moananu and Bill Clinton, who assisted with the counting for the Anoamaa 1 constituency, the highlight was meeting new people and building friendships.

“This (pointing at the other scrutineers) is the best part of the experience—meeting new people, experiencing new stuff. Even if it’s tough, at least we’ve learned something,” said Moananu. 

They met scrutineers from Faasaleleaga 1 on Sunday while sorting through special votes. “It took us a whole day for special votes—from 10 am on Saturday to 10 am on Sunday,” Moananu said.

When it came time to count on Wednesday, Bill described the day as tiring but uplifting.

“It’s a good experience for us as first-timers. It was exhausting, but we still praise God for the strength,” Bill said.

Counting for Anoamaa 1 began at 9 am on Wednesday and ended around 5:30 pm on the same day. The constituency vote totalled 2,498. The scrutineers noted the sensitivity of ballot papers.

“Even just a little rip on the paper disqualified the vote. But if the voter marked the candidate clearly, even outside the box, it still counted,” they said. Other concerns were raised about possible irregularities.

“Some of the issues were voters who seemed to have voted twice—that’s what we were looking out for.”

Scrutineers are chosen by candidates and their committees. For many, the experience brought mixed emotions.

“It’s mixed feelings. We worked so hard, but in the end, the people had voted,” Bill said, admitting that although the results did not go their way, they still carried out their role. The scrutineers brought their own food and even mats to rest on during the long hours of work.

“It’s a lot of effort and energy—whether we’d do it again depends on who’s running.”

In Faasaleleaga 1, Sharon Sui Alavine and Heather Paulu were partnered up to help with the count for the Faasaleleaga 1 constituency, which had not been completed as of press time.

When asked how they were feeling before starting, they said they had “mixed feelings.”

“Because we have to go in to experience what it is like in there. Some of the issues about the voters and those who voted twice." Alavine said.

"We have to go in there and raise those questions with the OEC workers," Alavine added. This was also the first time both Alavine and Paulu served as scrutineers.