The nationwide electoral roll update exercise for the 2017 National General Election commenced today.
The PNG Electoral Commission in conjunction with the Central Provincial Administration launched the program at Kwikila Station in Central province.
Electoral Commissioner, Patilias Gamato, has urged all eligible voters in PNG to enrol now.
Central Provincial Administrator, Gei Raga, announced that the Central Provincial Government has allocated K400,000 to support the commission’s program. Raga urged all eligible voters to make it their business to enrol.
Rigo District will be among the first to witness the very first decentralisation of the electoral roll for 2017.
This means the enrolment data will be gathered, processed, reviewed and input at the local level. Once the data has been entered, it will be sent to Port Moresby for final review and processing to create a new updated roll.
The decentralisation process aims to increase the accuracy of the electoral roll.
Commissioner Gamato said the biggest challenge faced by the Electoral Commission is developing the best ways to ensure the electoral roll is not an inflated roll.
The nationwide 2016 electoral roll update program is expected to be complete by December this year, or by January 2017. Commissioner Gamato called on everyone for support to ensure an increased level of trust and confidence in the election process in PNG.
