Voters in Hagen go to polls after 24-hour delay

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Wednesday July 4th, 2012

By ELIAS LARI
TWO of the three council wards in the Hagen open electorate that did not go to the polls on Monday began voting yesterday.
They are the Kogmul and Palimp 1 council wards.
These three are among 103 council wards in the Hagen open electorate, in Western Highlands province.
In Keltiga, a fight broke out between supporters of candidates and polling was cancelled as ballot papers and boxes were destroyed.
Polling in Keltiga did not take place yesterday.
Voting did take place in Kolgmul and Palimp, which did not vote on Monday because thousands of eligible voters did not have their names on the common roll.
Kolgmul has about 4,000 eligible voters but because most people could not find their names on the common roll they decided to adjourn polling to yesterday.
Only 1,200 ballot papers were sent to the people there.
In Palimp 1, people boycotted polling because names were not on the common roll.
Palimp 1 has more than 5,000 eligible voters but only 1,700 ballot papers were sent to that ward.
When people learnt of that, they boycotted polling. Security personnel and electoral officers packed up the ballot papers and left.
Provincial election manager Philip Telape could not be reached for comments yesterday after the two council wards resumed polling.
Several phone calls made to his cell phone went unanswered.