By Ancilla Ilave
At the 2026 PNG National Research Institute (PNGNRI) Chairman’s Seminar in Lae, Minister for Administrative Services Richard Masere stated that the Electoral Commission, as a constitutional office, holds the mandate to determine whether Papua New Guinea is prepared for the implementation of biometric and electronic voting
Minister Masere explained that his department is responsible for providing government oversight from a policy perspective as the Electoral Commission transitions to digital systems.
“The department is leaning towards digitalizing the common roll and voting system progressively.
“The important thing is that if people want credible elections, biometric and electronic voting is the way forward. Because that’s the only way there can be a one person, one vote.
“We are targeting all the seven highlands’ provinces, plus the NCD in one or two town districts that we’d like to try on the photo roll,” Masere said.
He explained that the photo roll is a component of the biometric system, which utilizes three distinct identification methods: facial recognition, fingerprint scanning, and iris recognition
Apart from Highlands region and NCD, Popondetta is another province the Electoral Commission is looking at rolling out the photo roll.
Masere said for the rollout to be successful, there needs to be a lot of awareness, particularly the fact that 85-90% of the people live in a rural community.
“They’re the most important people that must fully understand this migration. And once people understand the migration and the benefits that comes with it, we hope that there’ll be a big buy-in from our citizens.”
“And once there’s a big buy-in from our citizens, then we do roll out the biometrics and electronic voting in 2032,” Masere said.
He further stated that the objective is to conduct trials in selected locations to identify and minimize potential system issues and challenges for voters.
“Of course, it’s going to be progressive, a trial and error, learning phase for us.”
“By then we would have trials, seen the benefits, seen all the challenges, and as we progress it through, we can be able to achieve those outcomes,” Minister Masere said.
Masere concluded that the government is keen to roll it in that space, and that’s why they’ve created the Ministry of Administrative Services.
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