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By PETER KORUGL
VOTERS’ confusion and ignorance over the significance of the second and
third preference votes led to some of the biggest upsets in the
election, according to election managers in Morobe.
They told The National this lack of understanding prompted candidates to
hijack the system for their own gains, while in many communities the
second and third preference votes were used to settle traditional
obligations.
“We did not carry out any awareness on how the second and third
preference votes were to be counted and how these votes could affect the
final results of the election, Simon Sinai, Morobe provincial election
manager, said.
Lae Open returning officer Roy Kamen agreed with Mr Sinai, adding that
some of the biggest upsets seen in the elections in PNG was a result of
the confusion over the power of the second and third preference votes.
During the campaign, candidates openly committed these two votes from
their base votes to each other, thus depriving the voters of exercising
their freedom to give their preferred votes to candidates of their
choice.
In other cases, candidates and their supporters paid cash or kind to
voters in exchange for their second and third preference votes, thus
defeating the true spirit of the reforms in election laws.
“You are definitely right … but the candidates did not go and cast votes
on behalf of their base voters.
“The voters themselves decide but the good thing about LPV was that it
was user-friendly,” Mark Karambi, media adviser to the Electoral
Commission, said when The National raised the issue with him last June
about vote swapping.
Mr Sinai said apart from the hijack of the second and third preference
votes, voters used the LPV system to satisfy traditional and cultural
obligations at the polls.
“In Morobe, we carried out the LPV awareness only once and that may be
the reason (confusion and lack of understanding) … but from the big
number of spoiled votes we had, you can tell the voters did not
understand the LPV system,” Mr Sinai said.
He said voters gave the first vote to the candidate of their choice but
the second and thirds votes were used to settle traditional and cultural
obligations in their communities.
 
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