Referendum polling booths in Lae have run out of provisional envelopes after voters whose names were not on the Referendum roll were instructed to place their votes in envelopes to cast their votes.
According to the Assistant Returning officer, Simon Soheke, both polling booths at Top Town and Eriku have run out of the provisional envelopes. Each polling booth was only given forty-five each.
Yesterday, the Polling Official from the Autonomous Bougainville Government, Emmanuel Mah told EM TV News in Lae, that over thirty Bougainvilleans who registered, couldn’t find their names on the Referendum roll.
Their votes were placed in envelopes to indicate that their names were not on the roll.
“The votes in the envelopes are regarded as provisional. These votes might not be considered during the counting,“ Mah said.
Polling in Lae continued yesterday and as of noon today, 749 Bougainvilleans had cast their votes. 334 of these were women voters.
Polling for the Bougainville Referendum in Lae is expected to end at 6 pm tomorrow, those who haven’t yet voted, have only tomorrow to do so.
