The Waigani National Court today set aside the declared election of Don Polye as Member for Kandep Open on July 13, 2012.
This follows a successful election petition filed by petitioner Alfred Luke Manase disputing the election of Polye as the duly elected Member of Parliament for the Kandep Open electorate in the 2012 General Election.
The decision came today, more than a year after the trial was conducted in January 2015.
This means that Polye is no longer a member of parliament.
Justice Joseph Yagi ordered the Electoral Commission to count five ballot boxes that were disputed during the General Elections within 30 days from today.
The five boxes were not counted after they were disputed. The boxes are from the areas of Lungutenges No.1, Kombros No.1, Kambia No. 1, Maru and Imipaka.
Justice Yagi also ordered that the candidate scoring absolute majority after the completion of the counting shall be declared duly elected by the Returning officer as the member elect for the Kandep Open Electorate.
Polye was declared Member of Parliament from the first preferential votes.
The petition was filed on four main grounds. Only one ground was satisfactory to the court.
Grounds dismissed by Justice Yagi are;
- The appointment of the Returning Officer.
- Errors in progressive tally for counts 1-6 and 63-67 where discrepancies were raised in figures between the Manual Tally sheet and the Electronic Tally Sheet.
- Extra Ballot Papers. The trial judge found that the evidence provided by the petitioner was not clear and convincing.
Only ground allowed was the Electoral Commission’s failure to count five ballot boxes. Those boxes had a total of 3,248 ballot papers which Manase alleged were unlawfully rejected from scrutiny and counting on July 13, 2012. In this ground, Justice Yagi was satisfied that the Returning Officer has committed serious errors and omission in that regard.