There are 500,000 Samoans living in New Zealand, the US, Australia and elsewhere, while just 200,000 in Samoa itself.
Although there is no clear data on how many of the diaspora are Samoan citizens, there are concerns extended voting rights could dictate elections results.
One who believes all Samoan citizens should have the right to participate in their country s democracy is Christchurch-based political scientist Christina La ala ai-Tausa. Samoans overseas contribute to 49 percent of Samoa s economy annually through remittances, said Dr La ala ai-Tausa. So it is timely for Samoans overseas to be able to vote given we contribute a lot to Samoa from our
tautua (service) from overseas.