Scrutineers urged to know their roles, responsibilities

National

Scrutineers must adhere to their roles and responsibilities and not hinder the progress of counting that is going on currently, the chairman of the Commonwealth Observer Group, Sir Anand Satyanand says.
Speaking at a press conference in Port Moresby yesterday, he said the group commended the important role played by scrutineers, who ensured transparency was maintained in most of the polling stations but they should not interfere with the progress of the counting process. “We have already received reports of what scrutineers are doing but it is a little premature for me to provide for you any opinion about the scrutineers in that role,” Sir Anand said.
“It is an important phase of the election, the campaign, the voting, counting – all are separate – and they will be covered in our final report but we haven’t addressed that up until the moment.
“Our report to date is focused on the actions of scrutinners during the voting process, we will continue our observations of counting stations and at the actions of scrutineers at those places.’’
Regarding recommendations for a separate line for women and persons with disabilities, Sir Anand said: “We noted a variety of responses, we can say that the recommendations regarding women and their ability to come and vote was taken heed of.
“In some places there were specific lines for women to approach the polling stations and to undertake their voting.
“It wasn’t something that was uniform throughout the country, but it can be said that that was one of the recommendations that the EC took heed of and some steps in favour of and the same can be applied to voters with disability.
“Most of the polling officials we met carried out their responsibilities in a non-partisan manner.
“We approve of the actions of some presiding officers who ensured that the scrutineers were officially registered before they were allowed into the polling stations.”