Primary count for the Kandep Open seat in Enga ended with sitting MP, Don Pomb Polye, taking a narrow lead over his rival, Alfred Manase.
Manase was leading the race from the start until Polye outperformed him in the final nine boxes of Kolopa 1 and 2, Gini 1 and 2, Walupim, Teseres, Murip, Mund and Yapum rest houses, where he collected a total of more than 4,000 votes to move to the top with 16,336 votes.
Manase finished second with 16,303 while Peter Mission and Johnathon Paraia ended in the third and 4th positions respectively.
The quality check will start today before going for exclusion.
In other counts, Wabag and Wapenamanda open seats started the exclusion process yesterday while Lagaip-Porgera is expected to complete today.
For the regional seat, purity checks are being conducted on districts where primary counts have already been completed.
Enga Election Manager, Anton Iamau, says most of the seats are expected to be declared tomorrow and Friday.