Court application on legality of Sunday polling moved to fast-track list

By DEMAS TIEN
Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia has moved a Supreme Court application seeking the court’s opinion on the legality of Sunday polling to a fast-track list.
The application, filed by the runner-up for Ialibu-Pangia open electorate, Stanley Liria, returned to the court yesterday for directions hearing.
Sir Salamo directed Liria to file and serve further affidavits that he would be relying on by Aug 21.
He directed the interveners, comprising the electoral commission, State, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and a candidate for the open seat electoral Justus Rapula, to file and serve any interlocutory application they wish to file and also to file affidavits in support by Sept 4.
Sir Salamo also directed Liria to file and serve any affidavit in response to the interveners’ interlocutory applications by Sept 8 and prepare a draft index to the application book which the court will endorse when the matter returns on Sept 15 for further directions.
O’Neill’s lawyer Tiffany Twivey, from Twivey Lawyers, indicated that they would file an application to dismiss Liria’s case for being an abuse of process.
Liria filed his case for the court to interpret certain provisions of the Constitution and the Organic Law on National and Local Level Government Elections (OLNLLGE) in relation to whether polling on a Sunday was legal.
He filed the case following polling that was conducted in the Ialibu-Pangia electorate on a Sunday (July 2) during the general election.
He said that polling on a Sunday was unconstitutional because it breached section 130 of the OLNLLGE.
The subsection (b) of the provision states that “polling shall take place at each polling place at 8am on each day (other than a Sunday or a public holiday) during the period for taking the poll at that polling place, and shall not close until all electors present in the polling booth at 6pm and desiring to vote, have voted”.
The other seven candidates contesting in the Ialibu-Pangia open seat did not join in as interveners in the application.