NI voters’ list quesioned

By ELIZABETH VUVU
AT least 620 eligible voters in Namatanai, New Ireland would not be able to vote in the national elections unless immediate steps are taken to update the common roll.
According to the People’s Progress Party, it is estimated that up to 5,000 voters in the three electorates of New Ireland may not participate in the coming election as their names have either been deleted or deliberately skipped from being entered into the new list.
Severin Sipian, PPP coordinator for the Namatanai electorate, claimed the total voters’ population count for this year’s election as shown in the updated common roll was far less than the 2002 roll.
He said this was “ridiculous’ and questioned why this abnormal situation had occurred even when some government officers were assigned to update the common roll for New Ireland province.
Mr Sipian revealed this after completing a three-week tour of the Tanga island group where he checked out the roll book for Tefa, Lif, Nonu, Minmale and Boeng villages.
He claimed the roll does not include the total voters’ population of the villages but instead shows 620 voters less than the total eligible voters recorded in the 2002 common roll.
Mr Sipian said if the population growth for New Ireland was around 2.8% over the last five years, then there would definitely be an increase in the number of people already eligible to vote in this year’s elections.
He said he asked the officer in-charge at Tanga to bring it up with the electoral office in Namatanai and Kavieng.
Mr Sipian warned the democratic rights of the people would be taken away if the common roll was not updated before the elections.

 

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