Electoral Administration

This chapter, which provides an overview of electoral administration in the 2007 election, draws heavily upon the findings from the 2007 Domestic Observation Report (Haley and Anere 2009). It finds that Papua New Guinea’s 2007 general election was better managed and more peaceful than the 2002 polls, which were marred by electoral irregularities and widespread violence across the Highlands, and were generally regarded as the worst elections in Papua New Guinea’s history. In short, all the seats were declared, MPs in the new parliament were elected with larger mandates, government was formed, and for the first time in many years concerted electoral and civic education was undertaken in the lead-up to polling. There were also appreciable gains with respect to electoral administration—so much so that the elections ran smoothly in many provinces, particularly in the New Guinea Islands Region. Nevertheless there is room for further improvement. Specifically, electoral fraud and malpractice continue to be problematic in the Highlands, and problems with the accuracy of the electoral roll persist, as do complaints about the untimely release of funds, delayed delivery of election materials and inadequate training of election officials. These issues will require attention in the lead-up to the 2012 election.