EC: No more petitions

By LULU MAGINDE
ELECTORAL Commissioner Simon Sinai has instructed all Returning Officers (ROs) and their assistants not to accept any more petitions or disputes and to complete counting without delay.
“We need to return the General Elections 2022 (GE22) writs of all 118 parliamentary and provincial seats on Friday,” he said.
“So the counting of ballots must continue day and night without any further delay.
“As we’re running closer to the return of writs, we have made a lot of changes and applying changes in the process to speed up counting.
“Those of us who are participating with the ROs, we require your cooperation and attention.”
Sinai said he discussed with Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae last week about extending the deadline “but there is no hope for it”.
“So I am doing everything within my powers to get this election done. I am not going to listen to any scrutineers or complaints from anyone,” he said.
He appealed to the scrutineers and candidates to take their complaints or queries to the right forum, which they are aware of.
“With the counting that has been observed and monitored, there’s a lot of interference by the scrutineers, candidates and supporters, which puts the election officials under immense pressure,” he said.
“All stakeholders should respect the electoral process and don’t interfere with the counting because the officials have a mandated duty not to be obstructed to count ballots.”
He said the world was watching “with the international observers monitoring and reporting everything that’s happening”.
“Please act respectfully,” he said.
Polling has been completed in 21 provinces.
“The only exception is Laigam district in Enga due to ongoing violence.”
Fifteen electorates have already been declared and more than 80 are transmitting counting updates which can be viewed on the EC results webpage.
He thanked the Australian Defence Force for their support during the GE22.
They returned to Australia on Saturday.