Voter enrolment in the Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville has been extended until this Sunday.
A tentative date of June 15th 2019 has been set for a referendum on possible independence in the Autonomous Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville. Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades
The Bougainville Referendum Commission said this is to ensure all eligible voters have enough time to register and the extension is also due to the overwhelming response from Bougainvilleans to the enrolment exercise.
The PNG newspapers quoted the Chief Referendum Officer, Mauricio Claudio, saying the commission thought it would take two weeks to conduct the second phase of enrolment but decided on an extension to give more time to enrol all interested voters.
He said Bougainvilleans living in other parts of PNG can enrol at their respective PNG Electoral Commission offices.
Mr Claudio said the commission is acting as a neutral umpire to ensure the referendum is conducted freely and fairly, and people can be confident it is being done in full accordance with the laws set out by the two governments and the Bougainville Peace Agreement.