PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

By Dr Ray Anere and Katherine Wheen

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (PNG Post-Courier, July 30, 2009) – The 2007 electoral roll in Papua New Guinea had 1.4 million fewer names than the previous version used in 2002 which had, quite correctly, been deemed unviable by the PNGEC.

Although action to improve the roll was necessary, it can also be seen as a case of attempting a cure — a new roll — before taking the necessary preventative measures to stop the registration process from being manipulated.

Unfortunately, the new roll appears to be just as vulnerable to manipulation and mistakes as the previous one, at just about every stage of the enrolment process.

To delay action is to admit now that the 2012 Elections will not be free and fair. Simply updating the current roll, using the same system, will not fix the problems of duplicated names and multiple-voting, or remove the inaccuracies, particularly in the Highlands Region, where many wards are significantly inflated.

Arguments for a biometric system — which collects photos, fingerprints or other biometric data from voters — are compelling, and a pilot study of the feasibility of biometrics for PNG should be an immediate priority.

Evidence shows that biometrics can work in challenging political environments. Bangladesh, which has 80 million voters, has seen the rate of inaccuracy within its electoral roll fall from 20 percent to two percent. This has been through careful planning and the collection of photographs, fingerprints and signatures for voter identification. Among other things, it boosted public confidence in the Bangladesh Electoral Commission. This was achieved with the support of a package of multi-donor funding. Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are also examples of countries that use biometric systems. The DRC, in particular, shares similar geographic and infrastructural challenges to PNG.

For a new voter registration process to be successful, an implementation plan needs to be in place before 2010, to allow enough time for the most accurate and thorough registration of voters across the country to be conducted, taking into account rural and illiterate populations, and the potential for abuse by public officials, candidates, their supporters, and in some cases, Members of Parliament.

This reform will need the political will to foster a fair process, including a much larger funding commitment from the government throughout the electoral cycle, as well as an increased level of donor funding.

The enrolment process

The decision to register voters again, although necessary, came too late in the electoral cycle, commencing at the beginning of 2006. As a result, there was not enough time for any thorough verification and updating. During voter enrolment, there were frequent allegations regarding the partisanship of local officials. Domestic observers noted that different candidates appeared to have access to voter enrolment and were able to enrol supporters and ward councillors who conducted the enrolment and verification exercises, were observed to do so according to their affiliation to candidates.

The Commonwealth-Pacific Islands Forum Observation Report also noted that sitting members seemed to be accessing and inflating the roll in their districts. The team observed that in one sitting member’s village the roll went from 2 800 names to 10 000.

Partisanship must be addressed in the planning of voter registration, and in particular, the human resource strategies, so that officials from outside the districts that are being enrolled are involved. Digital mechanisms to preserve the integrity of enrolment data must be in place so that once voters provide their personal details, that information cannot be unlawfully accessed or altered. Currently, there are too many opportunities for officials, at different times, to make modifications to the enrolment lists.

There was also inadequate notice for the visits of enrolment teams to villages, and the lack of effort to follow-up absentees or reach rural and remote villages.

Verification

In early 2007, the electoral rolls were sent back to the districts for verification. One criticism of the roll verification process was that voters had to travel to district headquarters to participate in verification, making it very difficult for voters outside district centres to ensure that they were properly registered.

Enrolment and verification teams need to seek more assistance from local stakeholders, particularly village recorders, ward councillors and church leaders, to assist them to access hard-to-reach communities in rural and remote areas.

Use of the roll on polling day

The most serious concern in many electorates, particularly in the Highlands Region, was that the roll was not used on polling day. The Electoral Commission’s directives are that voters must have their names checked and marked, have the indelible ink put on their fingers, and then proceed to the polling table to cast their vote.

Instead, line-up voting was observed often across the Highlands Region and in some cases family groups were simply given a certain number of ballot-papers to fill out.

The 2007 Domestic Observation Report documented a substantial amount of detail on roll irregularities in the Highlands Region. For example, a close examination of the Lake Kopiago Local-level Government (LLG), revealed that out of the 10 351 enrolled voters:

• Only 50.2 percent were eligible to enrol;

• Entire villages and hamlets were assigned to the wrong wards;

• 2 426 were not known in the wards;

• 1 197 were under-aged voters enrolled with fictitious birth dates;

• 744 did not meet residency requirement;

• 664 were duplicate entries;

• 243 were deceased voters; and,

• At least 735 eligible citizens did not appear on the new electoral roll.

In PNG, where elections are major events for citizens, the extra investment in as wide as possible registration is essential to guarantee electoral integrity and public acceptance of results.

In the interest of cost-effective voter registration for the 2012 Elections, the PNGEC could work in conjunction with the Census Division of the National Statistical Office during the population census in 2010.

The biggest incentive for a well-planned re-enrolment exercise is the public confidence that can be generated for the PNGEC, which would help with all other aspects of electoral administration. It is for this reason that a new voter registration process is seen as the highest priority issue for electoral reform in PNG.

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