People will not travel to vote: Sinai

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
PEOPLE are not allowed to travel to their home districts to vote in the 2022 general election if they have been living in another district for more than six months, an official says.
Acting Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai said: “If you have been residing in Port Moresby or elsewhere for six months, you will vote there. The practice of flying to your home districts to vote will not happen in 2022.
“Also if you want to contest the election in your home district or province, you should reside there for five years or continuously reside there for two years.
“The time of flying back to contest like in past elections is over.”
Sinai said they came up with the new measurers during a one-week election workshop on Loloata Island.
“Election managers throughout the country brought these issues up during the workshop, saying they faced problems in past elections from people living outside and returning to vote or contest.
“These people create bad relationships between families in the villages.
“And then they return to the urban areas after the election leaving their families fighting and quarrelling causing social problems in the villages.
“So we will be carrying out awareness when verifying and updating the common roll throughout the country starting next month.”