LPV not ‘serving its purpose’

THE Limited Preferential Voting (LPV) system is not serving its purpose when voters spread their votes amongst other candidates, says acting electoral commissioner Simon Sinai
“Not knowing that a second and third preferences has the same power as first preference when it comes to elimination,” he said.
“We should change this understanding and distribute our second and third preferences wisely instead of throwing them around like rubbish votes.
“I am concerned about the delay in the elimination process of counting when we have to eliminate to the very third last candidate in almost every count in any election, including this by-election.”
The PNG Electoral Commission started using the LPV system in the 2007 National Elections to change the way Papua New Guineans vote for their leaders as a way to cut down on election-related problems.
“Under the LPV system, electors were to vote for the most preferred candidates by marking their first, second and third preferences on the ballot paper,” Sinai said. “In that way, we would have elected a leader who is selected by an absolute majority. But in every election, we have noticed that voters are spreading their second and third votes to all the candidates.”