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Voters in Papua New Guinea are crying foul after thousands of them were taken off the electoral roll as the country goes to the polls.
Opposition candidates accused the Government of doctoring the roll, while voting in some provinces has been postponed because of disputes or logistical failures.
Students at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) — who protested against Prime Minister Peter O'Neill last year — said they were denied the chance to vote.
The university has roughly 5,000 students and several hundred staff, but on polling day they discovered there were only 1,300 people registered to vote there.
Student Smith Wani said many had specifically made the effort to enrol.
"We made it our obligation to register and vote because we knew that through the ballots, our voices would be heard," he said.
"But now, I'm standing here, my name is not on this roll."
The same thing happened to students at other universities, who also protested last year.
UPNG student leader Samuel Apa said he found it suspicious.
"If this can happen at the University of Papua New Guinea, it's happening right across the country," he said.
Former PM accuses Government of interference
Former prime minister Sir Mekere Morauta — who is trying to return to Parliament — also vanished from the roll.
Polling officials could not find his name when he tried to vote.
"I checked many times to see where my name was and it isn't there," he said.
Sir Mekere blamed the Government and said the omissions were deliberate.
"It's the most deficient electoral roll and it's complete and utter chaos and I'm afraid it's all designed by [Peter] O'Neill," he said.
Mr O'Neill, in a statement, rejected the allegation.
"There is a common thread running between all the wild claims of the opposition members, and that is a lack of statement of fact or evidence to back up their claims," he said.
"Aside from some administrative issues, the elections are proceeding and errors are being resolved."
But the problems have been noted by international observers, such as the chair of the Commonwealth Observer Group, Sir Anand Satyanand.
"Unfortunately there are repeating examples of people whose names are not on the roll, despite having said they are registered," he said.
The Prime Minister's own electorate in the Southern Highlands was not immune from polling problems — voting there has been postponed because ballot boxes did not arrive.
In contrast to some highlands provinces, voting in Port Moresby was largely orderly and peaceful, even if it came three days late.
Voter Helen Nanumea said she was grateful the polling eventually went ahead.
"Just having to go through and see that I was an eligible voter was a good feeling," she said.
"It's just a good feeling to actually, finally vote and I believe this nation really needs change."
The first attempt to hold the polling was aborted because of a pay dispute with election workers, then police arrested the city's election manager and two returning officers.
The election manager was found with the equivalent of $75,000 cash in his car and is being accused of colluding with a candidate, while the returning officers are accused of trying to smuggle ballot papers out of election headquarters.
Police say they are likely to lay charges after the election, which still has another week to run.
Topics: government-and-politics, world-politics, elections, papua-new-guinea, pacific
First posted