Ballot papers for New Ireland province are being distributed to the two respective electorates of Namatanai and Kavieng in preparation for polling.
Ballot papers for Namatanai were delivered on Wednesday (June 29) under tight police security.
According to Provincial Returning Officer, Benjamin Kliawi, 31 boxes containing a total of 55,750 ballot papers were distributed to Namatanai electorate.
Meanwhile 21 boxes holding 42,950 ballot papers for Kavieng Open still remain in the holding container at the Kavieng Police Station.
“Both electorates have a total of 52 boxes which contain a grand total of 98,700 ballot
papers for New Ireland province,” said Kliawi.
Kliawai also confirmed that for Namatanai, a total of 82 ballot boxes were distributed, 41 of which are for Namatanai open and 41 for the Provincial seat.
According to the Police Chief, police personnel have been doing 24/7 monitoring and securing of the sensitive materials since the arrival last week Tuesday.
PPC Chief Inspector, Felix Nebanat says upon the electoral office’s request, police had to secure the perimeter of the storage container and oversee the extraction of the ballot papers.
“These sensitive materials are transported under heavy escort along the four hour stretch
of the Boluminksi highway to ensure they arrive safely in Namatanai,” Nebanat said.
PPC Nebanat appealed to the voting populace of New Ireland, candidate scrutineers and police scrutineers to make it their business to know the number of ballot papers for respective LLGs.
“It is critical that you know the total number of ballot papers so quality check or cross examination can be done when it comes to counting,” said PPC Nebanat.
In that way, you help the police in keeping a tab on the election process in order to maintain transparency, he concluded.
Comments are closed.