By 3:30 pm Byron Chan is declared Governor for New Ireland Province.
After the 8th exclusion of 10 963 votes from 3rd runner up Joshua Takin Soi, the absolute majority dropped to 18 604 that allowed Byron to climb past with 21 481 while Kepas Wali finished off with an impressive 15 725.
From the final elimination Kepas got 1 314 votes but was not enough to fill the margin as Byron was already sitting over the twenty thousand mark while collecting 900 votes to sail past the absolute majority.
From the get -go the close reigns by Kepas Wali kept the race intense as New Irelanders vie to find their leader for the seat. He got most votes from Nimamar, Sentral Niu Ailan and Murat.
The race kept everyone on their toes to the very end as it took almost an hour to sort out the 8th exclusions distribution of candidate 10 -Takin Soi’s 10 thousand plus votes.
Present to witness the declaration was the caretaker PA, Benson Apelis and Provincial Administration Representatives, members of the Provincial Election Advisory Committee and PNGEC Rep.
New Ireland looks forward to seeing what will transpire in the next 12 months until the National General Election next year.
