Counting on hold since Monday

COUNTING in Bulolo, Morobe, has been on hold since Monday after candidates and their scrutineers handed in a petition over allegations of misconduct in the process of counting, according to an official.
Bulolo returning officer (RO) Raune Jombert said the counting was suspended after count three.
“It was suspended after the candidates alleged that the process of counting that we were going through was not right,” he said.
“Actually, we were supposed to have completed our counting sometime late last week or early this week, but because of the petition before us, we were dragged on till now.
“We are still waiting for the legal advice to start counting again.”
Jombert said they were waiting for legal advice from the Electoral Commission (EC) and election manager in the province to begin counting anytime soon.
“We are expecting to get the advice by today (yesterday) and if all is good, we might start counting again before the end of the week.”
Jombert said there was also security concern so they had to assess carefully before counting could begin.
Since the candidates had raised their concerns, the tension in terms of security is high.
“We do not want to face the same situation as in Kabwum and Markham,” he said.
While urging the public to stay calm and let the counting process to go on, Jombert said people had to be neutral and let the process be completed so that the new leader could be made known to them early.
He added that candidates had their right to raise concern but asked that all parties to agree to follow the process.

Counting for Hiri-Koiari delayed after walk out

COUNTING for Hiri-Koiari was disrupted yesterday morning as scrutineers refused to inspect the counting process at Murray Barracks, an official says.
Returning officer Leo Ameua said the scrutineers refused to participate because they were unhappy that candidates from certain wards in Koiari LLG had received many votes.
“Scrutineers saw that two or three candidates from the Manari, Efogi and Kagi wards in Koiari LLG collected many votes,” he said.
“Hence, after the second count, they told the officials to disregard the count for that box.”
Ameua said despite the appeal from the scrutineers, the box was counted on Tuesday night.
He said the box was counted on the grounds no legal document was presented to him to stop the counting for the box.
“According to instructions from the Central election office, disputed boxes will be not counted if there is a legal document stating why,” he said.
Ameua said when the scrutineers saw that the box was counted, they walked out of the counting room.
He said that counting would not start without the presence of scrutineers.
“We are waiting for them arrive here so we can begin counting again,” he said.
Ameua said despite the disruption in the morning, counting continued yesterday after midday.

Rigo counting stalled, candidates and scrutineers petition EC

By AILEEN KWARAGU
COUNTING for the Rigo Open seat was delayed yesterday as candidates and scrutineers petitioned the Electoral Commission (EC) to replace all electoral officials after two were detained by police on Monday night.
They said returning officer Murray Konido could remain but the rest of his team needed to be replaced while the two officials taken into police custody needed to be investigated.
They also called for two ballot boxes from Mt Brown and Dorobisoro to be excluded from the count because they arrived on Tuesday night and may have been tampered with.
The petition also called for three scrutineers per candidate to be allowed in the counting venue.
George Enane, a spokesman representing scrutineers, said the point of the petition was to ensure a transparent process.
They asked for Konido to receive the petition on behalf of the EC but he had not done so.
“Our returning officer has refused to receive this petition and another team leader who was alerted failed to mention it to him,” he said.
“To have a free and fair election and to allow the counting to progress Konido should be answerable to us.”
Meanwhile, attempts by The National’s to get comments from Konido regarding the petition were unsuccessful.

Counting halted over compromised boxes

By PETER WARI
DISGRUNTLED scrutineers in Imbonggu, Southern Highlands, stopped the counting of ballot boxes yesterday after alleging that four boxes from Peimbil ward in the Imbonggu local level government had been tampered.
The argument led to the delay in the counting that required security personnel to intervene and calm the situation.
Some scrutineers argued for the alleged hijacked boxes to be set aside and counting to start on other ballot boxes while others said to wait for the Electoral Commission to give directions.
After the ballot boxes were brought to the Mendi police station and stored, the candidates filed a complaint to the Electoral Commission stating their concerns.
Imbonggu returning officer Pora Kelma said candidates and their scrutinisers had to provide evidence to prove the alleged hijacking of ballot boxes and if that was not provided then counting would continue.
Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai responded to their grievances in a letter addressed to election manager Alwin Jimmy on Monday and said he had been informed by Jimmy that candidates had interfered with the counting process after complaining about ballot boxes for Imbonggu being hijacked.
Sinai said he appreciated the concern however the counting needed to be completed before July 29.
He said any ballot boxes that reached the counting centre without any disturbances or any objections properly raised under the electoral laws needed to be checked and counted.
Jimmy told the scrutineers that the clearance for the alleged hijacked boxes would done today (Thursday) and ordered Kelma and counting officials to start counting the electorate’s other boxes.