Papua New Guinea Govt paying the price for its general election folly
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Papua New Guinea Government
paying the price for its general election folly
PORT MORESBY: The Papua New Guinea (PNG) Government is
paying its price for its folly in not heeding to the Commonwealth Observer
Group’s recommendation that the Election Commission (EC) conduct an urgent
review on the accuracy of the electoral roll after General Election 2017 (GE17).
Thus, the ongoing polling
for GE22 is in chaos as Papua New Guineans, denied of their rights to cast
ballots, vented their frustrations by destroying ballot boxes and resorting to other
forms of violence.
How then do you explain
the following three cases:
Ø FORMER four-term Lae MP Bart Philemon was denied
his right to cast his ballot in his Butibam village polling booth on Monday (July
4, 2022) because his name was not on the Common Roll;
Ø AN elderly woman, Dorcas Kopandu , who had voted
in pervious general elections, shed tears of anger in public at a polling
station in Wewak yesterday (July 5, 2022) because her name was also missing in
the Common Roll; and
Ø SENIOR citizen Anna Opi, who has voted in Kerema
in four general elections (GE2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017), was also denied her
rights to vote because her name was also not in the Common Roll.
Thousands of Papua New
Guineans who turned up to cast their ballots nationwide since Monday (July 4,
2022) have claimed that their names had gone missing and were thus denied their
rights to cast their ballots.
Is GE22 heading to a
failed general election?
PNG Cyber Monitor reproduces below a few GE22 news updates as published by The National:
Tears of anger
July 6, 2022The
NationalMain Stories
A WOMAN was in tears
at a polling station in Wewak, East Sepik, yesterday after she was disallowed
from casting her vote as her name was not in the common roll.
Disappointed Dorcas Kopandu said: “I am crying in public because I cannot find
my name. Why is this? I already have my choice of candidates for Wewak Open and
the provincial seat. But I cannot cast my vote now. I have been voting for
years.”
East Sepik Governor Allan Bird also said last night some ballot boxes were
damaged by frustrated people who were not allowed to vote.
Kopandu was one of the thousands of voters around the country who were turned
away by polling officials because the common roll did not have their names.
Kopandu, who last year was one of those who accompanied government officials
“going door-to-door” to update people’s data during a national census exercise,
was shocked when her name and others were missing.
She searched in vain through the roll for her maiden name, and husband’s
surname.
“Last year, I actually helped officials to update the data.
“We went door to door as I knew everybody in my (Old Airstrip) area,” she said.
“This morning (yesterday) I visited the polling site twice to ensure I can cast
my vote.
“Polling started after noon.
“But when I went through the list, I couldn’t find my name.”
Alex Amos, who also could not cast his vote, described the General Election
2022 as an “unfair one”.
“I have not been able to exercise my constitutional rights in two general
elections,” he said.
Gabriel Amos, who also could not find his name, said it was outrageous and
unbelievable.
“We can’t find our names. It’s our right to vote,” Gabriel said.
Electoral Commission (EC) officials in Wewak, when approached for a comment,
said there was nothing much they could do.
They explained that they were not allowed to use the supplementary rolls to
allow those whose names were missing on the main roll to vote.
Bird said last night his “worst fears are now realised”, after ballot boxes in
Yamil, Maprik and Boiken were damaged.
“I again call on the Electoral Commissioner to allow all eligible voters in ESP
to vote,” he said.
“The failure by the EC to honour the rights of voters has now resulted in the
worst possible outcome.”
He urged the people not to destroy any more ballot boxes as it could result in
a “failed election”.
“I have requested provincial administrator Samson Torovi to urgently convene a
meeting with the EC to allow all eligible voters in ESP to vote,” he said.
Meanwhile, observers during the General Election 2017, in particular the
Commonwealth Observer Group, had recommended that the EC “conduct an urgent
review and lessons learned processed immediately after this (2017) election,
and improve the accuracy of the electoral roll.
“This process should be carried out with support from the Commonwealth
Secretariat in collaboration with other development partners of PNG”.
“The Government should ensure a timely release of funding to the EC to enable a
thorough process of updating the electoral roll.”
Update roll early:
Officials
July 6, 2022The NationalMain Stories
POLICE and election officials are recommending to whoever forms the next
government to make the updating of the common roll a top priority well before
the 2027 General Election.
They were concerned about the names of many registered voters missing from the
Electoral Commission-updated common roll.
Assistant Police Commissioner Northern Region Peter Guiness blamed the
disturbances during Monday’s polling on the many complaints on missing names.
“This created problems for everybody – both the security forces and election
officials,” he said.
Election Manager Simon Soheke said the latest updating of the common roll in
Morobe cost K3 million.
“We did our part in moving names and enrolled them. But the result (names on
the common roll) during polling was totally different,” he said.
“Unfortunately, because ballot papers were supplied according to this roll, it
caused inconvenience for voters throughout the province.”
He cited as an example the Koeki ward in Kome, Menyamya.
In 2017, there were 600 voters.
This year, it dropped to 298 voters.
“This is a huge drop. Though there has never been a perfect roll in past
elections, still we as election administrators must try as much as possible to
come up with a credible roll so people are satisfied,” he said.
“I have started my own investigations to find out whether our new system failed
us or someone deliberately messed with the data.”
Lae’s Returning Officer Kusak Meluk blamed the Electoral Commission for the
confusion which arose, describing it as “unfair to the voter’s democratic
right”.
Soheke said administrators of the GE22 must do everything they could to “ensure
a free, fair and safe election”.
“I’m appealing to the new government coming in to fund us early so we can begin
the process of updating the roll and not wait until a year or six months before
the next general election which (too late),” he said.
Use NID system to update roll: Former MP
FORMER Lae MP Bart
Philemon has called on the Government to use the National Identification (NID)
and Civil Registry system to update the common roll.
Philemon, whose name was not on the common roll when he went to cast his vote
in Lae on Monday, said he could not believe that his name was missing.
He said he had been casting his vote and contesting the Lae Open seat in five
general elections.
He couldn’t believe his name was not on the common roll for the first time in
many years.
He told The National that the NID system should have the data on every Papua
New Guinean.
“Based on that fact that common roll for election every five years, it should
be updated using the NID,” he said.
He also found out when he went to Butibum East at 2pm on Monday that the
polling station was closed after they ran out of ballot papers.
“How can they run out of ballot papers because they should have data about how
many voted there the last time,” he said.
“I went to the Butibam community hall to check my name on the common roll but
it was not there.
“The last time my sister went to vote, she also couldn’t find her name. She
voted for me all the time I stood.
“My daughter also couldn’t find her name on the common roll at that time too.
“It is a basic democratic right for everyone to have their say every five years
on who should represent them in Parliament. It’s so sad.
“I know it happens to ordinary Papua New Guineans everywhere and I never
thought it would happen to me after being a MP four times.”
Councillor upset as voters turned away
Voters at Rouna 4,
Ward 8 in the Koiari local level government (LLG) in Central queuing to cast
their votes yesterday. There are 26 wards in the LLG. Voting will continue
until Friday. – Nationalpic by YVONNE KAMBIBEL
By YVONNE KAMBIBEL
A WARD councillor is
frustrated because she cannot do anything to help people who find out at the
polling stations that their names are not on the common roll.
Councillor Helen Weana from Vesulogo, Koiari, Central said: “It’s frustrating
for the people to arrive at the polling site only to find that they cannot vote
because their names are not on the common roll.
“It’s a major disappointment on our part as councillors when we cannot do
anything in our power to help our people in this situation.
At least 200 people from the ward had to be turned away.
Weana said in previous elections, councillors were allowed to use a Form 11 to
help those whose names were not on the common roll to vote.
Names missing in roll
July 6, 2022The
NationalMain Stories
SENIOR citizen Anna
Opi has voted in Kerema in four general elections (GEs 2002, 2007, 2012 and
2017).
But yesterday, Opi was turned away because her name was not in the common roll.
“My name has always been in the roll for Ward One,” she lamented.
“This is the first time my name is missing.”
Opi complained to The National that she was denied her right
to vote by the electoral officers who could not find her name in the common
roll.
“I was only told that my daughters’ names were registered in the common roll,”
she said.
“This should be sorted out.”
Opi urged the provincial electoral office to deal with the matter by
cross-checking to confirm the names of locals who had been voting in the past
general elections.
Elections manager Poevare Tore said they were using the updated list from 2016,
which was also used in the 2017 general election.
“We then updated it in 2021 by including youths who have turned 18 and removed
names of the deceased,” he said.
Voters began casting their ballots in Kerema yesterday, after a day’s delay.
Polling in Gulf will be from July 4-11.
Tore said polling which was initially scheduled to start on Monday had to be
deferred to yesterday because they needed more time to sort out the ballot
boxes and papers for the LLGs.
“We had security personnel to help us while we were sorting out the boxes and
papers for the Urban Kerema LLG polling,” he said.
“We are running against time to get all the boxes to the other six LLGs to
ensure that polling begins on Thursday or Friday and continue for the next
three to four days before all materials are transported back for counting.”
Finschaffen electorate gets over 41,000 ballot
papers
By GLORIA BAUAI
FINSCHAFFEN has
received 41,250 ballot papers for General Election 2022 (GE22), Morobe
assistant elections manager and Finschaffen Returning Officer Fredah Joses
says.
“This is, however, slightly more than the total number of registered voters. We
have 10 to 15 extra ballot papers. That is not excessive,” she said.
“If there are spoilt ballot papers, voter error, paper damage when voter is
trying to cast their ballots, these extra papers will allow for a replacement.”
Joses said Burum-Kuat had the highest number of ballot papers distributed at
12,000 and Finschhafen with the lowest number.
“For eligible voters, refer back to the 2019 figures as the base roll and add
15 per cent to that,” she said.
Joses said all ballot papers, other necessary materials and police personnel
had already been deployed to the district. “Burum-Kuat’s, however, arrived
yesterday due to the availability of helicopter and other districts started
their polling yesterday. Burum-Kuat will start today.
“We have also requested additional security personnel and their deployment is a
matter for police to manage,” she said.
Villagers tried to stop voting over missing
names
By AILEEN KWARAGU
A GROUP of villagers
in Central tried to stop election officials from conducting polling on Monday
after more than 2,000 names of eligible voters were not in the common roll.
The villagers from Tubuserea, the second largest village in the Hiri-Koiari
electorate of Central, had to miss out on voting because of the problem.
Hiri council president Haoda Rogea said the villagers tried to stop election
officials from conducting polling, demanding an explanation from the Electoral
Commission on why their names were missing.
“The polling was delayed by candidates and scrutineers for half an hour,” he
said.
Rogea said the first electoral roll for Tubuserea had 4,700 eligible voters.
But when they checked on Monday, around 15 per cent of the names were missing.
“We had only 257 who voted on Monday and more than 1,000 by lunch time
yesterday,” he said.
Rogea urged the electoral commission to seriously improve the updating of the
common roll to avoid similar problems in 2027.
Hiri-Koiari Returning Officer Leo Ameua told The National they
could only use the common roll supplied to them by the Electoral Commission.
“People have to be reminded that we are mandated to work under the rules and
regulations of the Electoral Commission,” he said.
“If your name is not on the roll, then you cannot vote.”
Voters in Wau-Waria turned away, names missing
in common roll
MANY people registered
to vote in the new Wau-Waria electorate in Morobe were turned away because
their names were not in the common roll, says Returning Officer Fidelis
Harrisol.
Harrisol said it was sad to see that they could not elect the leader they
wanted. “People fronting up at the polling station found out that their names
were not inn the common roll and, thus, cannot vote,” he said.
Harrisol also said there was also a shortage of ballot papers in some polling
stations.
“This is very serious,” he said.
“It is the right of the people to vote for the leader of their choice, but many
were not given that chance. We are depriving them of their rights.”
Harrisol said the same issues cropped up in the other local level governments
in Waria. “Many eligible voters there will miss out when polling starts in that
LLG tomorrow (today),” he said.
He said 12 team of polling officials will be sent to the Waria LLG.
He also mentioned that security was a problem because personnel who were
supposed to be there still had to sort out transport, fuel, accommodation and
rations issues.
“We can’t help much in this regard as the funds we have are tied up with the
polling and counting activities,” he said.
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