Researchers note disturbing trend at polls

CORRUPTION and malpractice varied from electorate to electorate in the 2012 elections, particularly in the remote areas, but a disturbing trend was noted by some researchers.
In areas such as Rigo, once regarded as innocent or naïve and peaceful, “vote-selling” and other forms of bribery were being experienced.
Then there was Kundiawa-Gembogl where aggression, bribery and corruption were widespread.
Researchers said there were lack of control and coordination in the area, and a limited understanding of the
electoral processes.
Researchers’ findings and recommendations were featured yesterday at 2012 national election forum at the National Research Institute (NRI) in Port Moresby.
NRI’s senior researcher Dr Henry Okole found that elections in Kokopo, East New Britain, did not encounter much problem as in other parts of PNG.
He said there was even a good response from the public to a radio awareness session on the elections prior to polling.
However, he felt problems in other parts of PNG during election were partly due to the drastic changes in PNG.
“Let’s start with the mindset. How do we cope with changes? What we see today is the manifestation of how we do things,” Okole said.
He recommended that the civil society be educated more on the elections and government processes in preparation for the 2017 election.
Fellow senior researcher Dr Ray Anere presented his findings on Rigo, where he noted that “vote-selling” and other forms of bribery were fast taking roots.
He said under-age voting and high expectations of electoral roll agents were issues identified.
“There is very little time for cleansing, verification and roll update.
“Roll at ward and district level is inaccurate, and discrepancy is huge between the number of roll and vote casted,” Anere said.
He suggested the electoral rolls be updated now for the 2017 elections, and a new law legislated to stop people from fly-in voting or contesting.
He also noted that the Limited Preferential Voting (LPV) counting threshold be raised to 60% to cater for the majority of votes to guarantee a true representative majority by winning candidates.
Dr Michael Unage presented his Kundiawa-Gembogl finding where aggression, bribery and corruption were widespread.
He said there were a lack of control and coordination, and a limited understanding of the electoral process.
Unage recommended that more awareness be done on the election processes in preparation for 2017.
“Civil society education on elections is important. The Electoral Commission should be more focused on awareness in 2017,” Unage said.