PNG Electoral Commission estimates that nearly 6 million eligible voters will be registered on the 2017 National Elections electoral roll.
Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato said PNGEC is projecting 5.6 million eligible voters to be registered, but estimates only 4.5 million voters would actually cast their votes.
He made comparison to the 2012 electoral roll, where a total of 4.8 million people were registered as eligible voters but only 3.7 million voted.
Meanwhile, Gamato touched on the issue of shortage of Claim for Enrolment Forms (Form 11) throughout the country.
“PNGEC had issued a total of 750,000 enrolment forms at the commencement of voter registration.”
He said PNGEC had released additional 100,000 enrolment forms upon requests from the provinces, increasing the total number of enrolment forms issued to 850,000.
“There are (additional) requests coming from election managers in the provinces and it would seem unrealistic as they are requesting for 200-300, 000 additional enrolment forms.
“This may reach (over) one million, and may contribute to a highly inflated 2017 roll as the number of eligible voters on the roll may equal or exceed the PNG population figure, which is 7.5 million as per the 2011 census figures,” Gamato said.
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