Smooth Pollings for Lae and Madang

Polling on the ground for two the centres went smoothly. Most were in an orderly manner with little security issues. We visited the three electorates in the Morobe Provinces which include Lae Open, Nawae Open and Huon Gulf electorates respectively before heading for Madang Province. By the time we arrived most of Madang electorate had polled. Sumkar on the outskirts of Madang was our next stop. From the surveyed questioned asked in regards to political parties, nearly 90% did not support a particular party. The sentiment received was that people tend to go with the candidate based on his merit, status or influence on the community or society. When asked about the women's opinion the general answer that women gave was that they voted according to the husbands support. Most people that went to vote found that they didn't have their names on the roll and were denied the right to vote. Overall the atmosphere was calm and collective in most polling stations. For the latest results on the national general elections 2012, click here or visit www.ippcc.gov.pg