Transcript
Reports continue to filter through of mishandling of ballot boxes and security problems at polling places in the Highlands.
Proceedings are especially explosive in Hela province where the Electoral Commission says counting has been disrupted because of petitions.
In the provincial capital Tari armed men attempted to destroy ballot boxes stored in containers at the local police station, prompting an exchange of gunfire.
It's unclear whether anyone was injured, but the local MP James Marape said his security men safely prevented an attempt by supporters of a rival candidate to sabotage the ballot boxes.
Rickson Yamo is a candidate in Hela's Koroba-Lake Kopiago electorate who said he has witnessed mishandling of ballot papers and boxes by people who were not electoral officials.
"People, they just hijacked the ballot papers and then they voted for the PNC (ruling People's National Congress party) candidates, tick all the PNC candidates, the open (seats) and the Governor (seat) as well. Everywhere in Hela. Even in Kopiago district, nineteen ballot boxes were destroyed - the same thing happened - and the people got out and destroyed nineteen ballot boxes."
PNG's two-week polling period has been plagued by widespread flaws in the electoral roll.
The electoral commissioner Patilias Gamato told media he wanted to implement a forensic cleansing of the roll after this election.
"Under which all eligible voters, eligible citizens are legally obliged to make a claim for inclusion of their names on the electoral roll; reach out to the registry authorities to join forces with the PNG EC (Electoral Commission) so that the EC is able to introduce ID-based voter enrolment."
Meanwhile, Mr Gamato said voters who missed out on voting due to shortages of ballot papers at their polling area would not have another chance to vote.
"Once the polling station is closed and the ballot boxes are closed, we cannot reopen the ballot box again and poll again."
"Once the polling station is closed and the ballot boxes are closed, we cannot reopen the ballot box again and poll again."
It's cold comfort to many university students across PNG who have missed out.
A University of PNG student, Gerald Tulu Manu-Peni, said he made sure his name was on the roll in March, but that it was missing from it when he and others in the National Capital District went to vote last Friday.
Furthermore, at his polling area at the UPNG in Moresby Northwest there were only around 1300 ballot papers.
Mr Manu-Peni said this meant at least two thousand student voters missed out.
"Not only students at the University but all around the country this is the same problem going on. So it seems that there is really something wrong somewhere. Even though the exercise of updating the common roll was funded by the government, worth millions, in the last couple of years, still they couldn't at least make sure the common roll could be updated."
Mr Manu-Peni said the election this year had not been free and fair to many people, something he attributes to incompetence of electoral officials.
Others see it as the result of something more sinister, and this is where trouble could spill over as counting gets underway.
Mr Gamato says additional security personnel have been deployed to parts of Hela as his officers attempt to begin counting.
