This year’s election better, returning officer says

Highlands

This year’s election in the Ialibu-Pangia district of Southern Highlands is better than previous ones, returning officer Michael Ariando says.
He said that people’s mindset and attitude towards election have changed and there has been a big improvement.
“I can honestly say that this year’s election has been better than previous ones,” Ariando said. “We’ve had a trouble-free nomination and campaign so far and I believe that polling will also be carried out peacefully.”
He said that the district had 108 official polling stations and five extra polling stations for places that have more than 1000 voters.
Ariando said the district has 113 polling teams that would be conducting polling with the help of police.
“We have 113 polling teams that will be conducting the polling along with the support of the police on June 24,” he said.
He said that with only three weeks left before polling, a lot of people were starting to wonder about the five candidates who have not shown up after nominations.
“Only four out of the nine who were nominated to challenge sitting MP and Prime Minister Peter O’Neill were campaigning in the district,” he said.
“There are 10 candidates including Prime Minister Peter O’Neill contesting for the Ialibu-Pangia seat, however, only five candidates have been doing campaigns around the district.”
But there has been no sign of the other five candidates in the district.”