Voters miss out on voting as names not on roll: Officer

MANY eligible voters in the 63 wards of three local level governments (LLGs) in Markham district were unable to cast their votes because their names were not on the Electoral Commission’s common roll, according to an official.
Returning officer for Markham district Willie Pilailo said polling in Markham started on Saturday and ended yesterday for Wantoat-Leron, Onga-Waffa and Umi-Atzera.
“The turnout was very good with no disruption or hiccups and they (people) cooperated with the polling officials,” Pilailo said.
“The only problem was that many people did not cast their votes because their names were not on the common roll.
“Eligible voters were disappointed over the issue that their names were not in.
“We have 10 teams of polling officials working in the Umi-Atzera LLG, another 10 teams in Wantoat-Leron and five teams in Onga-Waffa.
“We are expecting to complete all the wards before the return of writs on Friday. The field officers were announcing the winners but the formal declarations will come later once all the updates from the polling officers are handed to the returning officer.
“A fight broke out among voters in Timini village because names were not on the common roll.”
Meanwhile, three members of a polling team risked their lives to save a ballot box after they were allegedly attacked by youths in Northern, provincial police commander Supt Michael Welly said.