Strong winds, rough seas force U-turn

By: DOROTHY MARK

STRONG winds and rough seas forced election officials and police officers transporting ballot papers and election materials to Raicoast in Madang to return to Madang town on Saturday.
Madang election manager Peter Yasaro said the team was travelling to Saidor Station when they experienced strong winds and rough seas.
They rescheduled their trip to yesterday.
A helicopter will transport polling officials to Nayudo and other remote polling stations.
He said two teams began polling at Sumgilbar in the Sumkar electorate yesterday.
Yasaro said teams scheduled to begin polling on Saturday would begin today.
Yasaro said it was beyond his control regarding the number of eligible voters whose names were missing from the common roll.
“Only those people who have names on the common roll will vote,” Yasaro said.
Meanwhile, Madang received more than 15,000 extra ballot papers, according to Electoral Commission logistics officer in Madang Lazarus Pomo.
Pomo said 288,972 people in Madang were registered to vote, but 304,700 ballot papers were issued.