WELLINGTON, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Counting began Monday morning in Fiji after all the ballot boxes have been sent to four centers, according Monday's reports from Suva, capital of the South Pacific nation, which ended its general elections Saturday.

    More than 100,000 registered voters did not cast their votes during the 2006 general elections, said local news service The Fijilive.

    It said the Elections Office confirmed Monday morning that of the 496,000 provisionally registered voters, only 298,834 cast their votes over the seven polling days.

    During the 2001 general elections, 360,000 of the 460,000 voters cast their votes.

    The final outcome expected by mid-night Tuesday, said Supervisor of Elections Semesa Karavaki.

    Despite the continuous criticisms directed at election officials, Karavaki "is adamant" the count centers in the four divisions will produce early results.

    "We had a very slow start and we're heading to a very strong finish," said Karavaki. Enditem