Morobe Receives Election Materials

Sensitive election materials arrived in Morobe Province on Monday, the 20th of June, under the watchful eyes of PNG Defence Force and police personnel.

Morobe Election Manager, Simon Soheke, said the Morobe Electoral Commission is conducting a stock take to make sure the right quantity is in stock. 

“Today, Thursday, we’re receiving other materials like ballot boxes and stationery and other non-sensitive material,” he outlined. “Once we get them, we’ll sort them out according to each district and LLG.

“Mipla bai givim go long ol respective returning officers and assistant returning officers.”

Soheke said Morobe’s election preparations are going well in spite of a slow start, while training for ROs and AROs will be on Sunday, the 26th of June, and Monday, the 27th, in Lae.

“Tuesday (June 28th) we’ll dispatch all the materials. On Wednesday and Thursday, we expect them to run training with polling officials. From there, we will dispatch teams, starting on the 1st of July, to respective polling locations.”

Polling in Morobe will commence on Monday, July 4.

Soheke said Lae and Wampar Urban will have one-day polling, which is scheduled for Tuesday, the 5th of July.

“Polling for rural areas will be for 5 days at least,” he continued. “So mipla bai statim olgeta polling blo mipla lo Monday, 4th July, na expectation blo mipla lo komplitim lo Friday, 8th July.

“Over the weekend, mipla bai ekstrektim ol ballot boxes i kam lo respective ol districts and LLGs and then, the following Monday, we’ll start to count.”

Soheke clarified that while polling has been scheduled for 2 weeks, Morobe plans to use only one week, to give ample time for counting.

Counting will be conducted within the respective districts, with Soheke saying they are planning to count the primary votes within the first two days, while quality checks will be done on the third day.

Author: 
Carmella Gware