Bird wants simple EP process

By DYLAN MURRAY
EAST Sepik Governor and chairman of the Parliamentary Election Review Committee Allan Bird says the election petition process should be simplified.
In a panel event organised by the Papua New Guinea-Australia Alumni Association in partnership with the Lowy Institute’s Australia-PNG Network last Thursday, Bird said the issues raised in a petition sometimes varied from place to place.
He said that because of this there needed to be more specific guides set up to make sure that what went before the court was worth the court’s time.
“If it had to do with requesting a recount, it didn’t have to be taken to court,” he said.
“The court doesn’t need to order a recount.”
Bird said if only there were allegations more serious than that, such as any instances where individuals were alleged to have stuffed the ballot box with extra ballot papers, can the petitions be brought to court.
The secretary for Prime Minister and National Executive Council and Inter-Departmental Elections Committee chairman, Ivan Pomaleu, also voiced similar concerns.
He highlighted that issues brought forward in the petitions were often issues that could be sorted out during the counting period if there was an oversight.
“The people need to take control of the process,” he said.
“A reporting mechanism should be put in place if there isn’t one.”
Pomaleu said that there should be checks and balances to make sure that election processes were followed so that the number of petitions would not be so high.
This election year saw a total of 74 election petitions — the 2017 elections saw a total of 79 while 2012 saw the highest — 102.
Petitions from the 2017 elections were still being dealt with in 2018.
Bird said that the Parliamentary Election Review Committee hoped to rectify this problems along with other issues as soon as they had all the compiled reports from the election observer groups for the General Elections 2022.