Electoral commission to roll out biometric enrolment

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
THE PNG Electoral Commission (PNGEC) will carry out a biometric electoral roll exercise in the National Capital District and Central for eligible voters for the 2022 national elections, acting Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai says.
He called on all eligible voters in the 12 wards in NCD and the 288 wards in Central to contact the PNGEC enrolment in their respective wards to ensure that they were included on the electoral roll for their current ward of residences.
“You have to register in the biometric electoral roll to vote in the 2022 national election,” Sinai said.
“Even if you are registered in the Civil Registry and have a national identification (NID) card, you will not vote with your NID card.”
Sinai said this yesterday at the PNGEC headquarters in Port Moresby during the launch of the Biometric Electoral roll in NCD and Central.
“It’s best that we trial it in Central and NCD to see the success rate before going throughout the country.
“The introduction of biometric voter enrolment will mark the first steps strengthen integrity by having a biometric electoral roll built on the unique and verifiable identity of all eligible voters in PNG.
“While biometrics is complex and involves high costs, the benefits are significant and provide safeguards for our elections.”
Sinai also called on the Government to provide funding and resources to enable the enrolment exercise to move forward on schedule.
He said the PNGEC would also seek support from the Interdepartmental Election Committee and Provincial Steering Election Committees (PESC) to conduct enrolment for the 2022 national elections.
Meanwhile, Central administrator Francis Kokoba said that his PSEC would commit K500,000 for the biometric electronic roll in the province.