Pacific / Papua New Guinea

Polling in PNG's capital deferred for three days

13:15 pm on 27 June 2017

Polling for Papua New Guinea's National Capital District has been deferred to Friday in the latest schedule upheaval in the country's general election.

Port Moresby Photo: RNZI/ Johnny Blades

The NCD was to have gone to the polls today for its scheduled one-day polling.

Voters had already begun turning up to the capital's polling places this morning when PNG's Electoral Commission made the announcement.

It said polling for all three NCD open electorates and the provincial electorate are now deferred to Friday due to issues with camping allowances for polling officials.

The Commission said it was doing all it could to now resolve the issues so that polling commences on 30 June.

This comes amid complaints about persistent problems with the electoral roll and changes to schedule since polling for the national election began on Saturday in other parts of PNG.

Polling booth PNG election 2017 Photo: RNZI/ Johnny Blades

However, the failure yesterday to conduct scheduled one-day polling in three Highlands provinces is a sign that the Electoral Commission is under growing pressure.