Woman leader in Bougainville calls for Open counting

A call has been made for the Electoral Commission to conduct an open counting of votes during the counting period in Bougainville.

The call was made by the candidate for the North Bougainville Women’s Regional Seat, Anastasia Lapointe.

Candidate Lapointe says everything that happens during counting must be done in the open to be witnessed by all scrutineers.

This is for the benefit of the two parties, polling officials and scrutineers to avoid unnecessary allegations of foul play by counting officials.

Mrs Lapointe is also calling on the electoral commission to move away from manual counting to electronic counting adding this system is better, allowing the general public and supporters to also see on the spot how their candidate is doing.

She says, electronic counting also eliminates any changes of foul play by counting officials and unnecessary objections by scrutineers.

A check with the office of the electoral commission this morning reveals that counting would be conducted at Hutjena Secondary School Hall.

The office also says that counting would be done manually.

News and Image Source:  Dawn FM News