6 Aug 2020

Bougainville electoral staff off to polling stations

11:22 am on 6 August 2020

Bougainville electoral staff will travel to each constituency today for the poll starting on 12 August.

Nearly three weeks have been allowed for the election, which ends on 1 September.

Bougainville's electoral commissioner George Manu and acting election manager George Kenatsi (February 2020)

Bougainville's electoral commissioner George Manu and acting election manager George Kenatsi (February 2020) Photo: Bougainville Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commissioner, George Manu, said while the restrictions imposed on Bougainville to ensure Covid-19 didn't spread were a novel experience for his team, he felt everything was in place.

He said personal protective equipment, PPE, had been distributed to all the constituencies.

Monitors are a standard feature of Pacific elections, and despite the restrictions, Manu, is still hoping teams of independent observers will be able to monitor the voting process and ensure its integrity.

Manu said voting would be conducted in each constituency from Wednesday with the polling teams moving on to other wards on subsequent days.

He said there were fewer polling stations than last year's referendum because his office didn't have the resources that that voting process had.