Ballot papers cost EC K5.5mil

IT cost the Electoral Commission K5.5 million to print the five ballot papers for the local level government elections next month, says Commissioner Patilias Gamato.
The ballot papers were printed overseas and delivered to the commission in Port Moresby yesterday by MH Supplies. They were printed by CP Stationery in Penang, Malaysia.
Gamato is happy that he is in possession of the ballot papers before the issue of writs on April 25.
“Ballot papers are among the big-ticket items the commission has started receiving from suppliers,” he said.
“The others are the plastic seals and locks for ballot boxes, indelible ink, voting compartments, polling kits and election stationery.”
He said the next step was to unpack them, then repack according to voter numbers on the electoral roll per ward.
He expects the ballot papers to be sent to the wards well before the start of polling.
There are 31 urban and 265 rural local level governments.
Five companies had applied to print the ballot papers but the Central Supplies and Tenders Board awarded the contract to the Malaysian company. “I visited the company premises prior to the printing of the ballot papers and was satisfied that it’s a high-profile printing company which prints high-profile materials, including ballot papers.”
The ballot papers have eight different security features which make it difficult or impossible to duplicate them.