No concession for SDAs

VOTING in Southern Highlands will go ahead with or without Seventh Day Adventist voters, the Electoral Commission said yesterday.
Chief Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen said voting planned for Southern Highlands tomorrow remains and voters will go to the polls on that day.
“I believe they (SDA) still have time after the church service after lunch to go and cast their votes; there is plenty of time, the same goes for the voters in Lae.”
Mr Trawen said for the Lae Open electorate, he had received word from election manager in Lae that he had consulted with the SDA leaders and agreed that voting will go ahead as planned tomorrow and the SDA followers will come after the church service to vote.
Electoral Commission legal adviser Prof John Nonggorr said the Organic Law under section 79 (1) says that polling is to start on a Saturday.
“So its not as though the Electoral Commissioner had a choice; the law says you must start polling on a Saturday and in the Highlands it was decided that Southern Highlands should be the first to go for obvious reasons and so the polling has to start on a Saturday,” he said.

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