Tari-Pori counting of ballots begins today
News that matter in Papua New Guinea
Tari-Pori counting of
ballots begins today
PORT MORESBY: Counting of ballots for Hela’s Tari-Pori seat
begins today (July 6, 2022), Assistant Elections Manager Anne Pame says.
“Polling has been
completed and all 16 ballot boxes for the electorate have been transported back
to Tari on Monday (July 4, 2022) evening and locked away.
“This is because
Tari-Pori has one of the smallest populations in Hela,” she added.
Incumbent Tari-Pori MP
and Prime Minister James Marape (Pangu Pati) is being challenged by nine
candidates for the seat. The nine comprises seven Independents, Bull Miabe
Benson Angobe (People’s National Congress) and Mark Handape (Papua New Guinea
Party).
Hela has 14 Local Level
Governments comprising 274 wards with 275 polling stations featuring 275
polling booths.
PNG Cyber Monitor reproduces below a few General Election 2022 news updates as reported by The National:
Tari-Pori to start
counting
July 6, 2022The
NationalMain Stories
COUNTING for the
Tari-Pori seat in Hela will begin today, says assistant election manager Anne
Pame.
She said polling had been completed and all 16 ballot boxes for the electorate
were transported back to Tari on Monday evening and locked away.
“This is because the Tari-Pori electorate has one of the smallest populations
in Hela,” she said.
“Plus the electorate is connected by road to the main town, so it was easy to
transport the ballot boxes back to town after polling was completed on Monday.”
Pame said due to the restricted timeframe, counting would start today.
“We already have the counting place set up, counting will be done in LLGs.
We already have counting teams in place.”
However, if the election manager allowed the team a day’s rest then they start
counting tomorrow.
“But we are working around the clock to start off counting for the Tari-Pori
electorate.”
Meanwhile, all ballot boxes were sent to Tari yesterday.
“Places with road connections, we were able to extract right after polling on
Monday afternoon,” Pame said.
For remote areas, all ballot boxes were flown back today.
“So far I am very pleased with the turnout for this election compared with past
elections.
“This year’s was quiet, peaceful and not a lot of issues was reported.
“We have yet to receive reports of any major incident, but so far, it has been
successful.”
“I believe counting will also run smoothly,” she said.
Pame said only one ballot box was destroyed compared with past elections. “Only
one ballot box was destroyed from a polling place in Pori, so 16 out of 17
boxes were brought back for counting,” he said.
“For Komo, only three boxes were destroyed, and North Koroba only two boxes
were destroyed.”
Pame said Hela had 14 LLGs and counting, unlike before, would be done in LLGs.
“Each LLG will have its own counting station and all numbers will be updated on
the main tally board.
“For Tari-Pori, we expect counting to be completed in three days.”
Lae could start counting tomorrow
COUNTING of ballot
papers for Lae district should start as early as tomorrow at the Sir Ignatius
Stadium Indoor Complex, says Returning Officer Kusak Meluk.
“The counting should proceed on Thursday but that depends on how fast we can
prepare the place for counting,” Meluk said.
“Two counts will be conducted down there, when we’ve finished with Lae open we
will continue with the regional seat. For regional, we will wait for teams from
outside districts to come in. Then we will start counting at the same place.”
Morobe election manager Simon Soheke said as soon as they got the staff and the
counting place ready with reports on what should be done at the counting venue,
they would start the counting.
“We are preparing the counting centre to make sure everything is ready then
hopefully by Thursday we should do the counting for Lae,” he said.
“As soon as the polling is complete for any district, the officials will do
one-day preparations. Reporting and the counting start after the polling
reports are done.”
NCD public servants given day off to vote
PUBLIC servants in the
National Capital District (NCD) will be given time off today to cast their
votes in the one-day polling for the General Election 2022.
Department of Personnel Management secretary Taies Sansan said they should
resume normal duties tomorrow, July 7.
She also urged private sector employers to give their workers time off today.
“This is to inform public servants and employees residing in the NCD that they
will be given time off to exercise their constitutional rights to vote for
their leaders,” Sansan said.
She also advised heads of government agencies to allow their workers registered
in Central and Gulf ample time to travel to their homes to vote.
“Public servants and employees in Central and Gulf (should) be given ample time
to travel to their polling venues to vote,” she added.
NCD polling today as planned, counting from Friday
Name not on common
roll… LAE district returning officer Kusak Meluk says about 50 per cent of
eligible voters had miss out on voting. According to Meluk, the common roll had
not been updated as they had found out during the casting of votes at the
polling booths around the district. Pictured are ballot boxes being returned to
the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium to be locked up after voting on Monday. Polling
officials and scrutineers double-checked the seal numbers on boxes. –
Nationalpic by LARRY ANDREW
By LULU MAGINDE
NATIONAL Capital
District (NCD) election manager Kila Ralai says the one-day polling for NCD
will proceed as planned today, with counting expected to begin on Friday.
Despite allegations raised by candidates of Moresby North-East and NCD
Regional, disputing the transportation of ballot papers in an attempt to tamper
with a certain number of papers, Ralai when addressing candidates yesterday said
all 58 boxes for both seats, contained legal ballot papers.
“All the boxes were in order and not tampered with. The ballot papers were
printed in Australia in April, while they were still carrying out common roll
updates for NCD, so the four additional boxes were containing the 8,000 ballot
papers that were not sealed, were checked to ensure that they balanced the
polling locations and figures,” he said.
He added that all ballot papers should account for the population according to
the 2017 common roll, with a mark-up of 15 per cent (determined by national
planning), as captured in the common roll update carried out earlier this year.
Electoral Commission officials carried out ballot paper distributions at Sir
John Guise Stadium yesterday according to the 201 polling teams to verify
whether there were reserve ballot papers.
Moresby North-East Returning Officer Billy George said all ballot papers would
be transported by the polling teams along with 185 police escorting teams to
their respective sites early today.
“The number of boxes picked up on Sunday was 58 for Moresby North-East and NCD
Regional ballot papers, as listed on my roll, with one booklet containing pink
and blue ballot papers for the open and provincial seats,” he said.
Quick counting saves
time: Sinai
July 6, 2022The NationalMain Stories
“We are conducting General Election 2022 (GE22) according to flexibility and
making best of the situation to complete the counting of ballots to meet the
deadline (July 29) for the return of election writs,” he added.
“If you want to be a politician, you have to count the cost, you cannot expect
the Electoral Commission (EC) to fit into your favour.
“Follow the EC, do not come up with your own ideas and do things your own way.
“Now we have no time, we want to centralise all our operations. When you
concentrate, you are consistent, when you break all these things, it will be
difficult to reconcile and start all over again,” he added.
“People out there think they can run elections.
“I will go, someone else will come and run it and we will see how competent they
are and how they can control the interests of the people, the level of politics
and deal with the intellectuals of the country.” he stressed.
Sinai said the EC had done what it could but another reason for the delay was
the death of a political leader, former deputy prime minister Sam Basil.
“Without the political parties there is no election.
“A political party leader dies so we have to give due respect for a week. We
have to respect their participation and the role they play.
“We will see which electorate fails after July 11 or 15 onwards, even after
July 29.
“Only then we can see, nothing is perfect in any organisation.”
Three LLGs in Morobe yet to begin polling
District
Disability chairman Gibson Seseru (in wheelchair) being assisted by his
caregiver Eugene Sio to place his ballots into the box at Kabriman compound
polling booth in ward 4 of Bulolo urban in Morobe. – Picture courtesy of EUGENE
SIO
By EHEYUC SESERU
THREE local level
governments and a district in Morobe are yet to start their polling due to
logistics, late funding and other issues.
Morobe election manager Simon Soheke said polling for Wasu and Siassi in
Tewae-Siassi district, Wau-Waria’s Waria LLG and Finschhafen district will
start polling tomorrow (Thursday).
“Ballot papers and boxes for Wasu and Siassi were airlifted to the LLGs this
(yesterday) morning,” he said.
“They will have their polling officials briefing and start polling on Thursday.
So they’ll have time for polling and will take their boxes back to Sialum for
counting.
They will be three days late according to our provincial schedule.
“Polling materials for 12 teams of Waria LLG went in late, so they would also
poll late.”
The materials were flown into Garaina yesterday for today’s polling.
These were the last for districts to be dispatched.
Otherwise, everyone is ready and are into polling.”
Soheke said Mumeng started their polling yesterday.
He said polling in Finschhafen had not started yet.
“It was supposed to start today (yesterday) in some areas of Hube but I have
decided for polling to be stopped until the issues of security, and assistant
returning officers (AROs) are resolved.
“Polling will start anytime this week in Finschhafen.”
Soheke added that some LLGs in Kabwum and Menyamya were still waiting for a
helicopter yesterday to dispatch polling materials from the district
headquarters to polling sites.
Manus to expect polling to start today
DESPITE logistic
challenges and other issues Manus is prepared and looking forward for polling
which is expected to start today, an official says.
According to acting election manager Tony Balema, the polling was supposed to
commence on Monday but due to the late arrival of funding for logistics and
material, polling had been deferred to today.
Balema said yesterday that, despite the delay they were well prepared and
looking forward to the polling.
He said the province’s 131 wards were prepared along with their 38 polling
teams.
“Our first day of polling will start tomorrow (Wed, July 6) and will end on
next Tuesday (July 12) so we have only five polling days, therefore I am urging
all eligible voters to be at your respective polling sites to vote,” he said.
“We have updated all data for the common roll in all wards in the province and
I believe we will not face any issues regarding this.”
Balema said funding for the logistics came on Friday and were sorted over the
weekend.
He said all polling teams had been deployed to their respective polling sites.
Bad weather hinders start of polling in Milne
Bay
By HELEN TARAWA
BAD weather has
prevented polling in most electorates of Milne Bay, forcing a day’s delay, an
official says.
Provincial returning officer Ivan Maraka told The National that materials had
arrived late for Esa’ala, Kiriwina-Goodenough and Samarai-Murua due to bad
weather.
Polling had started a day later for the outer islands as well as the Daga
hinterland, and Suau, while Alotau Urban and nearby communities started polling
on Monday.
Maraka said polling in Daga and parts of Suau in Alotau district had been
delayed.
He said due to logistical issues, the materials for Daga were still in Alotau
to be airlifted.
Maraka said polling in Yeleyamba, Losuia, Murua, Kiriwina, Goodenough, Suau,
Dobu and West Ferguson started yesterday.
“Most of these areas are in the outer islands and due to bad weather materials
were late arriving at the polling stations,” he said.
“The teams have all started polling today (Tuesday) together with Weraura, and
Makama in Alotau district.
“Our only concern is Daga because they are the hinterlands and access is by
plane,” he said.
Maraka said since the plans to airlift the teams and materials by chopper had
been cancelled, they were looking at organising a third level airline into
Agaun.
He said the polling officials had already walked with police personnel to Agaun
and were awaiting the materials.
Maraka said they were optimistic that polling for all electorates would be
completed by July 11 and the ballot boxes returned to Alotau for counting to
start right away.
Meanwhile, Maraka said one of the main concerns in the polling stations he
visited was people without names on the common roll.
“We have advised our people without names on the common roll that we couldn’t
do much as it was a matter for the government and the PNG Electoral
Commission,” he said.
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