PNG Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai says 2022 National General Election campaigns will end this week. All public rallies and campaigning will officially stop on Friday 1st July 2022 and voting commences next Monday July 4th 2022.
He said candidates have this week to polish up and do their final campaigning.
Sinai said all campaign activities including movement of people and staging rallies will end on Friday. He urged candidates to observe and respect electoral laws by removing loud hailers and speakers mounted on their vehicles after Friday in readiness for polling which starts on 4 July 2022.
The Commissioner said polling will not be conducted on Saturday and Sunday (July 2-3), as these are considered days of worship and is protected by law.
"Unlike past elections, we have seen a generally peaceful election campaign this year, though there were some minor disturbances and disruption in some parts of the country.
“This simply demonstrates that our people are becoming more aware and understand what election is all about. They know who they want to vote for and already decided on their preferences. And that's the beauty about the Limited Preferential Voting system we have, where a voter has three different choices of equal value,” said Sinai.
The Commissioner said fighting for support and territory became a major issue in the past under the old First Past Post system. However, the current LPV system has done away with the problems of the past and laid a strong foundation for both the candidates and supporters to work together and share their preferences, so a popular candidate wins through the elimination process or on first preference count.
Sinai said polling stations throughout the country will open on Monday 4 July and voting will commence at 8am with the formation of two separate lines for male and female voters.
"Gender split in both the voter roll and the polling booths are the first since independence and it is done purely to protect the rights of our female voters to ensure they have a fair say when it comes to voting without intimidation and undue influence," the Commissioner said.
Sinai appealed to the voters to take ownership and respect the process and allow voting to run smoothly without any problems.
"The ballot box and the ballot papers that are distributed to your council ward belong to you. If you want to add value to the process and make your vote count, I ask you to protect your ballot paper and bring your ballot box safely to the counter centre for counting," he said.
Meantime 3625 candidates are contesting 118 seats in the 11th National Parliament which includes seven (7) new electorates created early this year when Parliament adopted the Electoral Boundaries Commission report.