How you will vote

By MALUM NALU
THE 10 million ballot papers, which have already been printed in Indonesia, are totally separate from the posters for candidates, which are yet to be printed here, Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato says.
He clarified this with The National yesterday, following confusion among some people that the ballot papers also contained the names of candidates.
He said the posters containing the names, numbers and pictures of the candidates contesting a particular seat would be printed locally after the final list of candidates was finalised at the end of the nomination period this month.
These posters will be displayed at polling stations and booths for voters to check the corresponding number of candidates of their choice. They will then write this number on the ballot paper.
“The ballot does not carry the names and pictures of the candidates. The pictures, names and numbers appear on the candidate posters,” Gamato said.
“People should not be confused about this. In 2007 and 2012, we followed the same procedure.”
Gamato said the posters would be put up on the voting compartment or at the polling station as a guide for voters.
“The candidate posters will be printed in the country after nominations close and the numbers for the candidate are drawn,” he said.
Voters will be given two ballot papers – one for the Regional seat and one for the Open seat.
The voter will fill the number of his or her preferred candidate on the ballot paper.
He said in a statement that 2017 ballot papers were “more secure than the 2007 and 2012 generic ballot papers with 15 security features – eight security features hidden inside a hologram on the top of each ballot paper and seven security features hidden on the face of each ballot paper”.
“Ballot papers for the provincial seats are blue while the ballot papers for the open seats are yellow,” he said. The 10 million ballot papers printed in Indonesia have arrived in the country and are guarded by armed police and soldiers at a secret location and will be distributed to the polling stations during the polling in June.
“The ballot papers are the democratic rights of voters and must be protected at all costs by the Electoral Commission for free and fair election,” he said.
“The ballot papers are securely locked away in 11 containers at an undisclosed location in Port Moresby after arriving from Indonesia last week.
“In the next one-and-a half months, the ballot papers will be unpacked and repacked according to enrolment numbers for each province and dispatched two weeks prior to the commencement of polling on June 24.”