Distribution hindered – The National

By GLORIA BAUAI in Madang
DISTRIBUTION and dispatching of electoral officials, security personnel and election materials into the mountainous regions of Madang has been challenging, an officials says.
Fabian Meker, the assistant returning officer (ARO) for Gama local level government (LLG) said 12 of the 14 wards were only accessible by air.
He said it was impossible to deliver the polling process by foot as this would take weeks to complete the exercise well past the scheduled return of writs.
Polling was scheduled to start on July 4, 2022, however, when The National visited Walium station on Wednesday, teams were still on ground, sorting out election materials.
Meker said teams underwent training on Tuesday night that ended at midnight and spent Wednesday sorting out materials for airlifting.
He said three of his eight teams and materials were already transferred into the LLG as of yesterday.
“We need to start all polling in the LLG at the same time so this means we have to wait until next week when all 56 officials and 10,250 ballot papers are on ground,” he said.
Bundi ARO Joe Yama said his electorate could be accessed by both land and air transport, however the vehicles hired were all run-down and this would also delay delivery of materials into each ward.
He called for better logistical support for his 84-polling officials and 13,050 ballot papers given the short time frame for the return of writs which was on July 29.
He said because the helicopter would do only one run for insertion and extraction in Usino, their biggest need was for vehicles to ensure uniformity in the delivery of polling in their LLG.
“We are already behind schedule and there are also other existing issues on ground.”

Media commended for role in election

By LULU MARK
THE media has a huge role to play in the delivery of a free and fair election and journalists should continue to report without fear or favour, a candidate says.
Tania Bale, who worked for 35 years in the broadcast media and who is running for the Moresby North-East seat, said the role of the media as the fourth estate was critical in the General Election 2022 (GE22).
Bale made the remarks at a press conference yesterday where other National Capital District (NCD) candidates in Anna Kavana Bais (Moresby North-West), Michelle Hau’ofa (Moresby South) and Sylvia Pascoe (regional) raised their concern around transparency of polling and counting.
She said the media was doing a good job covering the elections so far but polling and counting were still there to cover.
She said candidates and people were looking to the media to ensure the concerned authorities were held accountable.
“We need you (journalists),” she said.
“You are part of this fight for democracy.
“You are the people that do the checks and balances.
“You are the truth tellers.”

Open communication vital, says officer

**Final check … Pictured are polling officials for wards along the Ramu Highway in Madang checking polling materials on Wednesday. Polling for Ramu began yesterday. – Nationalpic By GLORIA BAUAI**

POLLING teams heading into Madang’s Gama local level government (LLG) will first need to clarify the issue of the non-updated common roll for eligible voters.
Presiding officer Galison Kokong said open communication would be vital to avoid disputes and ensuring the safety of his team.
“We are expecting issues with the common roll and the inconvenience this will cause but we must clarify first that this is beyond our control,” he said.
“All officials involved are also locals so we should be good in this regard.”
But according to Gama assistant returning officer Fabian Meker, there were over 10,000 eligible voters while ballot papers to be distributed across 14 wards as per the Electoral Commission record was 10,250.
Estimated ballot papers for Bundi LLG is 28,650, however ARO Joe Yama said the eligible voting population had increased since the last common roll and ward registration update.
“Ballot papers should have a 15 per cent increase for all ward areas but there is less,” he said.
“Our most populated places are the Kurumbukari mine site, Snowpass, Yandera and I’m sure we’ll fall short of ballot papers.”
He said Kurumbukari mine site with five sites set up would have one-day polling while other polling sites would undergo three to four-day of polling.
“Every five years, the population grows, candidates use different strategies and voters also use their own strategies to choose so we have to be smart,” he said.
Usino ARO Sokya Philkasim noted a similar situation with the ballot paper supply in his LLG but said he still expected a generally good election process in the end.