Papua New Guinea Electoral Commission

Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato says the procurement of big name items such as ballot boxes for the 2017 National and LLG elections is estimated to cost the Commission K15.5 million. He said that these big name items will be purchased this year 2016 in preparation for the elections next year 2017 for the two elections which will be held concurrently.

™A new style of voting for Papua New Guinea elections has been suggested by the Registrar of Political Parties and Candidates, Dr. Alphonse Gelu. This new voting system is voting according to political party lines and their policies. Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato says it's a good suggestion but needs more meaningful debates by the wider community throughout the country.

™The enforcement of the Criminal Code Act on early campaigning should be the responsibility of the Royal PNG Constabulary (RPNGC) acting upon complaints from members of the public. Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato, however, says that what is not too clear is the process of going about reporting the incidents to police if someone is engaged in early campaigning.

In its efforts to effectively manage PNG's Electoral Roll and make the Roll accessible to electors to check their names and details the PNG Electoral Commission is developing a Roll Web Interface. The Roll Web Interface is a new initiative by the Commission to properly manage the Roll and make it easy for electors to check their names anywhere in the country and at any time.

The PNG Electoral Commission has established its Strategic Planning Unit (SPU) to strategize planning, monitoring and evaluation of all the strategies and activities of the PNGEC. This unit will be using the Microsoft Project to plan and prepare activities for 2016 and 2017 National and LLG elections.The establishment of SPU is the sole initiative of Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato.

The PNG Electoral Commission still faces a lot of challenges with outstanding bills for service providers in the 2012 and 2013 elections. Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato says this was because of poor management and control in the past. And he warned that these outstanding bills will be a potential risk for the 2017 National and LLG elections if they are not settled.