Nipa-Kutubu candidates want official removed

THE decision by a returning officer to count 83 boxes put on hold by Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen has angered regional seat candidates in Nipa-Kutubu.They want returning officer John Harrisol replaced and the declaration of a failed election in the electorate.The candidates claimed that Harrisol clearly defied Trawen’s instructions on the disputed 83 ballot boxes from Poroma, Nipa Basin and Nembi Plateau.Candidate Joseph Kobol, speaking on behalf of other regional candidates, said Trawen in his letter dated July 3 had advised Harrisol not to count these boxes until further notice. But Harrisol ignored this.He said presiding officers appointed just before polling started on June 23 allegedly marked the ballot papers themselves.He said people did not cast their votes at the Toiwaro resthouse in the Poroma LLG. A presiding officer marked open candidates on regional ballot papers and regional candidates on open ballot papers.He said 1,400 votes were declared informal at Injip One and Two, and the common rolls were inflated with ghost names.He said for the returning officer to say that polling was peacefully and smoothly conducted in the three local level governments was misleading.Kobol said 90, 000 people in the LLGs witnessed this themselves.