Electoral roll not dependent on census

THIS is in reference to a letter by Fed Up “So what is next move?” (The National, Feb 17) and to      others who may have similar perceptions, misunderstandings and confusion.
A national census and electoral roll update exercise are completely different and conducted by two different institutions.
A national census is carried out by the National Statistical Office every 10 years to register all persons living in PNG.
An electoral roll update, on the other hand, is carried out by the Electoral Commission before a national election to re­gister eligible voters.
The Electoral Commission does not rely completely on statistics from the National Statistical Office (Census Unit) to compile the electoral roll for elections because census figures are used for purpose of projections only.
So, in response to the writer, the electoral role is not dependent on the census.
Lastly, the  2012  election will use a newly updated 2012   electoral roll instead of the one from 2007.

Alphonse Muapi
Media Officer,
PNG Electoral Commission