Blame PNGEC for delay in update of rolls, says Unage

By ZACHERY PER
THE Election Commission must take responsibility for delays in completing the electoral roll for this year’s election.
Dr Michael Unage, a senior researcher from the National Research Institute, said the commission’s late start to updating the common roll meant that in Chimbu alone, which he surveyed, eight of the 12 local level governments had yet to be listed, with eight weeks left before the issue of writs on April 27.
Unage said things on the ground were too slow and enumerators only got a day’s training which was not enough.
Discrepancies he uncovered showed no proper training had been done, “therefore the data that came in was inaccurate”.
He said the common roll update in the 2007 election was riddled with ghost names.
“The PNGEC failed to do a proper common roll update in 2007.
“It was filled with ghost names. Real voters supposed to be on the roll are now demanding for their names to be listed,” he said.
 “The blame will be on Electoral Commission for starting the process late. There were recommendations for the commission to do that earlier.”
Chimbu provincial election manager Gore Kaupa earlier blamed the Treasury for the delay in releasing the money for the completion of FOL exercises in the remaining local level government areas.