By Margot Staunton, RNZ Pacific senior journalist
Bougainvilleans went to the polls today, keen to elect a leader who will continue their fight for independence.
“There’s a mood of excitement among the people here,” said Electoral Commissioner Desmond Tsianai.
“It is important that this election is successful and credible, because we want legitimate leaders in the government, who will continue discussions with Papua New Guinea over independence,” he said.
Tsianai said there were more than 239,000 registered voters in the autonomous PNG region and he expects a better turnout than the 67 percent during the 2020 election.
“We anticipate voter turnout will increase due to the importance of this election in the political aspirations of Bougainville.”
Tsianai said his office had been proactive, encouraging voters to enrol and reaching out through schools to first-time voters aged 18 and over.
He is adamant Bougainville could achieve a one-day poll, despite the election being rescheduled at the last minute.
Polling pushed back
Polling was scheduled to begin on Thursday but was pushed back a day to allow time to dispatch ballot papers.
In addition, he said, there were some quality control issues concerning serial numbers.
“These are an important safeguard against fraud. We, therefore, took measures to ensure that these issues were rectified, so that electoral integrity was assured.”
The final shipment of ballot papers, which was scheduled for delivery on August 23, finally arrived on September 2, he said.
This did not allow enough time for packing and distribution to enable polling to take place on Thursday.
“The printing of the ballot papers and the delay afterwards was out of our hands, however we’ve taken the necessary steps to ensure the integrity of the process.
The polling period for the elections was from September 2-8, and the office had discretion to select any date within that period based on election planning, he said.
“Rescheduling allowed sufficient time to resolve ballot delivery delays and to ensure that polling teams are ready to serve voters.”
Preventing risk
He said that the rescheduling was done in the interest of voters, candidates and stakeholders, to prevent any risk of disenfranchisement.
“We remain fully committed to delivering a credible election and will continue to provide regular updates to maintain transparency and confidence in the electoral process,” he said.
“We have taken the necessary steps and anticipated that some wards within constituencies have a larger voting population so extra teams had been allocated to those wards so polling can be conducted in a day.”
The dominant issue going into the election remained the quest for independence.
In 2020, there were strong expectations that the autonomous region would soon achieve that, given the result of an historic referendum.
A 97.7 percent majority voted for independence in a referendum which began in November 2019.
However, that has not happened yet, and Port Moresby has yet to concede much ground.
Toroama not pressured
Bougainville’s 544 polling stations will open from 8am to 4pm local time (9am-5pm NZT) in what is the first time the Autonomous Bougainville Government has planned a single day poll.
Some 404 candidates are contesting for 46 seats in the Bougainville Parliament, including a record 34 women.
Six men are challenging Ishmael Toroama for his job.
Toroama recently told RNZ Pacific that he was not feeling any pressure as he sought a second five-year term in office.
“I’m the kind of man that has process. They voted me for the last five years. And if the people wish to put me, the decision, the power to put people, it is democracy. They will vote for me.” he said.
Counting will take place on September 9-21, and writs will be returned to the Speaker of the House the following day.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
