Goilala Open

Goilala ballot boxes yet to be extracted

Returning officer Theodore Maia said every LLG is waiting for the extraction of ballot papers. 

“Yesterday we brought in Tapini’s 28 boxes. There is still two more to come down. For Guari they are still in the Guari area. Their boxes will have to be flown to Tapini station and then to Port Moresby. That is 20 boxes. For Woitape, that’s 32 boxes that need to be airlifted from the polling areas to Woitape station and down to Port Moresby,” Maia said.

25 Nominated For Goilala Open

The first to nominate on Thursday, May 19 was Matilda Koma, so far the only female candidate from the Woitape LLG. She was the first on site and nominated at 3:52pm.

Returning Officer, Theodore Maia said supporters of candidates arrived in respectable numbers and caused no hindrance to operations.

Maia encourages that all involved in the hype of the election period, especially for the duration of nominations must be considerate.

“My message to them is to make sure that the election must be done in a proper way to allow for our candidates to come in,” he said.

Samb retains Goilala seat

Box 11 - Mathew Poia was the decider for the race between Samb and Alex Hoem Robert.

Despite Robert collecting a good 1,105, Samb climbed 89 votes higher to 6,576.

The absolute majority was 5,664.

Samb was declared the legitimate member at 4:30pm this afternoon by RO Theodore Maia at the counting venue, Gordon Police gymnasium.

Runner up Robert was 4,752.

This will be Samb's first full 5-year term.

He won the by-election after the passing of Daniel Mona in 2014.

He was member-elect for 18 months.

COUNTING: Goilala Open progressive result – after elimination 27

Closer to the finish line, incumbent sitting member William Samb is leading by at least 2,821 votes.

He needs 1,683 more to reach the absolute majority of 7,687.

Remaining ballot papers to count are 15,372.

Following are progressive results:

     

COUNTING: Goilala Open progressive results – after elimination 17

At the 17th exclusion, only 13 candidates remain, with incumbent sitting member William Samb still in the lead.

The progressive tally: 

  

COUNTING: Goilala Open progressive result – after elimination 3

Incumbent sitting member William Samb is holding strong in the lead while candidates with the least votes are slowly being eliminated.

Gilbert Goi, Peter Gopa Aelai and Camilo Ese were the first three to drop out in the race.

Following are the progressive results:

COUNTING COMPLETED: Goilala Open undergoing quality checks

Primary count for the seat ended yesterday evening.

Results as of count 35 from Woitape Station in the Woitape LLG stand as:

Goilala Open - after first preferential counting

CANDIDATE

PARTY

TALLY

COUNTING: Goilala Open progressive results – after first preferential counting

The last box was from Woitape station in the Woitape LLG.

The following are the progressive results as of count 35:

COUNTING: Progressive results for Goilala Open – After count 26

Goilala Open - after count 26

Goilala Open’s progressive result – after count 16

Robert is still leading the race but with Poia closing in – in an 8-vote difference – as of 3:30pm today.

Counting for Goilala Open has been suspended for a short recess after count 16.

Incumbent sitting member William Samb still holding on at the fifth spot.

Loop PNG visited the counting venue at the Gordon Police Barracks gymnasium.

Following are the progressive results after count 16.

Goilala Open - after count 11