More than 200 people of Kandrian Gloucester in West New Britain have been denied their rights to have their votes counted for the Provincial seat.
This is after allegations of polling on a Sunday held in Wasum in the Kandrian Gloucester Open seat.
It is understood that Team 11 conducted polling on Sunday July 2, the last day of polling due to several factors.
According to the report from team 11, they had encountered bad weather including rough seas, strong winds and rain.
When they arrived at Wasum, the village chief, elders, the people and scrutineers all agreed for voting to take place after church service so they exercise they constitutional rights to cast their votes.
The 256 voters are now being denied their right with their votes being counted as informal because they voted on Sunday.
The quality checks were into count 15, when the Provincial Returning Officer Emily Kelton instructed for the officials to go back to count 11 and to identify them as informal votes.
She said this is because Sunday is not a Gazetted day of polling.
This decision is contradictory because for the Kandrian Gloucester Open, these ballot papers were allowed to go through as formal votes.
The Returning Officer for Kandrian Gloucester, Roland Paponorea said the scrutineers for Kandrian Gloucester agreed that these ballot papers be counted as formal because they had been on the ground and personally witnessed the situation.
He said the scrutineers for the Provincial seat were not there thus the differences in their opinion.
However it was spelt out to the Assistant Returning Officers, Presiding Officers and their assistants that during polling they were empowered to make decisions based on circumstances on the ground.
Team 11 in their report said they made the decision accordingly and due to the bad weather, it was difficult communication to get in touch with the Electoral Office in Kimbe.