Commission should do away with alphabetical voting system

THOUSANDS of citizens in the National Capital District were denied their constitutional right to cast their votes in the 2012 general election as a direct result of Electoral Commission introducing alphabetical voting system.
For whatever reason the Electoral Commission trialled the alphabetical voting concept only in NCD while the rest of the country was exempted.
This ill-fated concept was a huge flop because thousands of voters didn’t participate in electing their leaders.
Given the huge rate of illiteracy among our people the concept was a glaring failure.
People were told to go and search for their names at designated polling venues in each urban ward according to alphabetical listings created by the EC to cast their vote.
For instance, an Albert who lives at Moitaka Power Station in 8 Mile settlement was directed to go to DAL polling booth where people whose names commencing with alphabet A to G can vote.
The distance between Moitaka Power Station and DAL is about 2km.
After a hard walk covering the distance Albert shows up at DAL but was told by polling officials there to check his name at Moitaka Primary School polling booth, a distance of another 1.5 km.
After arriving at Moitaka Primary School he was again instructed by polling officials to check at 8 Mile Lutheran Church polling station, a distance of one  kilometre.
Poor Albert was totally exasperated after the long excruciating walk from one polling station to another in the hot Port Moresby sun with the hope of exercising his constitutional right to elect a leader of his choice.
Albert simply gave up in despair and didn’t vote.
He fell victim to a systematically corrupt scheme created by EC to prop up certain candidates in NCD.
He was just one example of thousands of people who were denied by the EC from casting their votes in 2012.
I appeal to the Electoral Commissioner not to repeat the same mistake this time around. Alphabetical voting system was a miserable failure and it will never work in PNG.
Just simply allow the people to line up at polling venues in their own neighbourhoods and conveniently cast their votes.
The people deserve a free, fair and corrupt free election.
The EC is duty bound to give them one in this election.

Bonny Igime
NCD