Polling in Moresby North-East commenced today after being deferred last week.
Many turned up in numbers to cast their votes.
Polling began just after lunch following the arrival of ballot boxes, polling materials and security personnel.
But there is overwhelming concern from the voting population regarding common roll and voter identification.
James Ipu is a PLWD who has lived for more than 20 years in the city. He said unlike 2017, the number of voters has increased.
“I stood in line for a very long time to vote. This was not the case here in 2017. There was no line for PLWD’s. I can see that people from other electorates are also here to vote,” said Mr Ipu.
Ipu said anyone and everyone can just come here and vote. No proper checks are done, he added.
“But I am happy I did choose my desired candidates for the Open Seat and NCD Regional but I am also concerned that there are no proper name checks which by law the electoral commission officials should know.
“This is unfair and not right. I am not sure if things will turn out ok after polling”, Ipu said.
Meanwhile a scrutineer was pulled to the side and questioned by a police officer at one of the polling booth at Apex Park.
According to Ben Austrai, police accused him of double voting.
Mr Austrai told Inside PNG News, he stood inline the whole morning just to vote and then do his duty as a scrutineer.
“I am yet to cast my vote, the police officer saw me standing here all this time. My opportunity to exercise my constitutional rights is now gone,” Mr Austrai said.
Mr Austrai’s scrutineer identification was stripped off by the police and his ballot papers squashed and stored away.
He told Inside PNG News, he is frustrated and left the polling area and went home.
Five polling booths were established at the Apex Park for Moresby North East residents to cast their votes. The booths were categorised into alphabetical order for residents to follow and cast their votes.
From eye witness statements, a bulk of the people present today are either from Moresby North West or Moresby South.
A concern mother said the EC officials are not doing the right thing. She said people are being told to stand in line and just vote.
“This is not fair, you can clearly see that election laws are not followed. I believe the election in MNE is rigged,” she said.
Inside PNG also spoke to a number of workers who came out to vote during their lunch hour.
An elderly man described the polling booths as chaotic. He compared today’s event with 2017.
” Where did all these people come from? This place was not full like this in the past national election. Now I can’t stand in line and vote,” he said.
The 40 year old said with polling expected to be completed today, he may not be given the chance to vote.
“It’s the same picture I see in all polling booths in the Moresby North East Open elections. I have driven to more than four polling stations in the Boroko area and everywhere is full.
I may not vote this time but am eager to see the counting for MNE and see if the numbers will correspond. I see that there is such much discrepancies, he added.
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