No. 3 of 1997.

Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elections.

Certified on: / /20 .

 INDEPENDENT STATE OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA.

Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elections.

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS.

PART I – PRELIMINARY.
1. Compliance with Constitutional requirements.
2. Application of this Law.
3. Interpretation.
“candidate”
“elector”
“electoral officer”
“electorate”
“electronic advice”
“member”
“officer”
“polling booth”
“polling period”
“population”
“Province”
“Roll”
“the Boundaries Commission”
“the Committee”
“the Electoral Commission”
“the Electoral Commissioner”
“the Parliament”
“the Returning Officer”
“this Law”
4. Reference of certain questions to National Court.
PART II – ADMINISTRATION.
5. Electoral Commission.
6. Electoral Commission Appointments Committee.
7. Meetings of the Electoral Commission Appointments Committee.
8. Casual vacancy, etc.
9. Term of office.
10. Declaration of office.
11. Disqualifications from office.
12. Special conditions of employment.
13. Resignation.
14. Retirement.
15. Prime function of the Electoral Commission.
16. Staff to be made available by certain bodies.
17. Application of Public Finances (Management) Act 1995.
18. Delegation.
19. Returning Officers.
20. Assistant Returning Officer.
21. Appointment in cases of emergency.
22. Date from which appointments are to take effect.
23. Candidates not to be Electoral Officers.
24. Keeping of Forms.
PART III – ELECTORATES.
25. Election of Members to the Parliament.
26. Boundaries Commission.
27. Term of office.
28. Disqualifications from office.
29. Special conditions of employment.
30. Resignation.
31. Retirement.
32. Acting Appointments to the Commission.
33. Proceedings at meetings.
[34. Repealed]
35. Open Electorates.
36. Size of Open Electorates.
“Q”
“P”
“N”
37. Notice of proposed redistribution.
38. Public Inquiry.
39. Report of Boundaries Commission.
40. Report to be laid before the Parliament.
41. Determination of new Electorates.
42. Change of Electors from one Roll to another.
PART IV – POLLING PLACES.
43. Polling places.
PART V – ELECTORAL ROLLS.
Division 1 – Electoral Rolls.
44. Rolls.
45. Form of Rolls.
Division 2 – New Rolls.
46. New Rolls.
46A. Preparation of New Rolls.
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47. Additions, etc., to New Rolls.
48. Objections and notices to have effect in relation to New Rolls.
Division 4 – Printing and Inspection.
Division 3 – Existing Rolls.
48A. Existing Rolls.
49. Printing of Rolls.
50. Inspection.
51. Officers and others to furnish information.
PART VI – QUALIFICATIONS AND DISQUALIFICATIONS FOR
ENROLMENT AND FOR VOTING.
52. Persons entitled to enrolment.
PART VII – ENROLMENT.
Division 1 – Application.
52A. Application of this Part.
Division 2 – Officers.
53. Officers.
Division 3 – Claims for enrolment and transfer.
54. Addition of names to Rolls.
55. Claims for enrolment.
56. Provisional Enrolment.
57. Compulsory enrolment and transfer.
Division 4 – Registration and rejection of claims.
58. Registration of claim.
59. Notification of rejection of claim.
60. Penalty on officer failing to enrol claimants.
Division 5 – Alterations of Rolls.
61. Penalty on officer neglecting to enrol claimants.
62. Alteration of Rolls.
63. Alterations to be initialed.
Division 6 – Special provisions for certain candidates.
64. Special Provisions for certain nominations.
65. Incorrect Enrolment.
PART VIII – OBJECTIONS.
Division 1 – Normal Objection.
66. Names on Roll may be objected to.
67. Objection.
68. Notice of Objection.
Division 2 – Objection by enrolment agent.
69. Objection by enrolment agent or other prescribed officer.
Division 3 – Determination of objections.
70. Answer to objection.
71. Determination of objection.
PART 8A – VOTE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM.
71A. Voter Identification System.
71B. Maintenance and Operation of Voter Identification System.
71C. Non-disclosure of details of Voter identification System.
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 PART IX – APPEALS.
72. Appeal to District Court.
PART X – WRITS FOR ELECTIONS.
73. Writs for General Elections.
74. Writs for vacancies.
75. Form of Writs.
76. Time of issue of Writs.
77. Address of Writs.
78. Date and Period of Nomination.
79. Date of Polling.
80. Date of Return of Writ.
81. General Election to be held on same day.
82. Duty of Returning Officer on receipt of Writ.
82A. Use of Special Procedures in Elections.
82B. Failure to observe requirement under Part X.
PART XI – THE NOMINATIONS.
83. Candidates must be nominated.
84. Qualifications for nomination.
85. Mode of nomination.
86. To whom nomination made.
87. Requisites for nomination.
88. Form of consent to act.
89. Formal defects.
90. Nomination fee non-refundable.
91. Place of nomination.
92. Hour of nomination.
93. Declaration of nominations.
94. Withdrawal of nomination.
95. Return of nomination fee in case of candidate’s death.
96. Proceedings on nomination day.
96A. Cancellation of an Election.
96B. Disqualification from holding Elective Office.
96C. Election Advisory Committee.
PART 11A – ELECTION CANCELLATION AND FAILURE.
97. Failure of Election.
PART XII – VOTING BY POST.
98. Application by Electors for a Postal Vote Certificate and Postal Ballot-Paper.
99. Penalty for improperly inducing elector to apply for postal vote.
100. Issue of certificate and ballot-papers.
101. Inspection of applications.
102. Numbering of applications and certificates.
103. Returning Officer to notify issue of postal vote certificate and postal ballot-
paper.
104. Authorized witnesses.
105. Directions for postal voting.
106. Duty of authorized witness.
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107. Penalty for unlawfully marking postal ballot-paper.
108. Unlawfully opening postal ballot-paper.
109. Penalty for failure to post or deliver postal ballot-paper.
110. Penalty for inducing elector to hand over postal ballot-paper.
111. Duty of persons present when an elector votes by post.
112. Ballot-box for postal votes.
PART XIII – THE POLLING.
Division 1 – Polling Schedule.
113. Polling Schedule.
114. Publication of Polling Schedule.
115. Adherence to Polling Schedule.
116. Appeal.
117. Election not open to challenge.
Division 2 – General Provisions.
118. Returning Officer to make arrangements.
119. Substitute.
120. No licensed premises to be used.
121. Separate voting compartments.
122. Ballot-boxes.
123. Certified list of voters.
124. Ballot-papers.
125. Candidate Posters.
126. Ballot-papers to be initialled.
127. Scrutineers at the Polling.
128. Provisions relating to Scrutineer.
129. Persons present at polling.
130. The Polling.
131. Elections at which Electors are entitled to vote.
132. Where Electors may vote.
133. Persons claiming to vote to give name and other particulars.
134. Questions to be put to Voter.
135. Certain errors not to forfeit vote.
136. Right of Elector to receive Ballot-paper.
137. List of voters to be marked on issue of Ballot-paper.
138. Votes to be marked in private.
139. Method of marking Ballot-paper.
140. Assistance to certain Voters.
Division 3 – Special Provisions in Certain Cases.
141. Voter claiming to vote whose name on Roll has been marked.
142. Person claiming to vote whose name is noted as person to whom postal vote
certificate, etc., issued.
143. Blind or physically incapacitated Voters.
144. Dealing with voters, etc., under this Division.
Division 4 – Miscellaneous.
145. Spoilt Ballot-papers.
146. Adjournment of Polling on account of riot.

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 PART XIV – THE SCRUTINY.
Division 1 – Preliminary.
147. Scrutiny.
148. Counting Centres.
149. Officers to conduct scrutiny.
150. Scrutineers at scrutiny.
151. Conduct of scrutiny.
152. Action on objections to ballot-papers.
153. Informal Ballot-papers.
153A. Excluding Ballot-box from Scrutiny.
Division 2 – Provisions relating to the Scrutiny of Ordinary
Votes.
154. Scrutiny of ordinary votes in elections.
Division 3 – Provisions Relating to the Scrutiny of Postal
Votes.
155. Scrutiny of Postal Votes.
156. Preliminary scrutiny of Postal Votes.
157. Further scrutiny of Postal Votes.
158. Mistakes.
Division 4 – Provisions relating to the Scrutiny of Votes under
Division 3 of Part XIII.
159. Conduct of scrutiny.
160. Action on receipt of Ballot-papers under Division XIII.3.
161. Preliminary scrutiny of votes cast under Division XIII.3.
162. Further scrutiny.
163. Informal Ballot-papers.
164. Parcelling of Ballot-papers.
165. Opening of sealed parcels of Ballot-papers.
166. Opening of sealed parcels of Declarations.
167. Preservation of Ballot-papers and Declarations.
Division 5 – Mode of Determining the Result of the Scrutiny.
168. Scrutiny of votes in elections.
169. Further provisions relating to scrutiny.
Division 6 – Re-count of Ballot-paper.
170. Re-count.
171. Reservation of disputed Ballot-papers.
172. Conduct of re-count.
PART XV – INTERPRETERS.
173. Interpreters.
174. Duty of Interpreters.
PART XVI – THE RETURN OF THE WRITS.
175. Return of writs.
176. Correction of errors.
177. Extension of time.
PART XVII – OFFENCES.
178. Illegal practices.
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179. Heading to electoral advertisement.
180. Articles to be signed.
181. Matter broadcast.
182. Display of certain electoral posters prohibited.
“electoral matter”
“electoral poster”
183. Removal of prohibited electoral posters.
184. Loud-hailers, etc.
185. Injunctions.
186. Cards in polling booths.
187. Untrue statement in electoral papers, etc.
188. Signature to electoral paper.
189. Witnessing electoral papers.
190. Making marks on ballot-papers.
191. Electoral offences.
192. Prohibition of canvassing near polling booth.
193. Badges or emblems in polling booths.
194. Failure to transmit claims.
195. Forging or uttering electoral papers.
196. Employers to allow employees leave of absence to vote.
197. Protection of the official mark.
198. Disorderly behaviour at meeting.
199. Neglect to initial ballot-paper, etc.
200. Offender may be removed from polling booth.
201. Defamation of candidate.
202. Publication of matter regarding candidates.
203. Voting in an electorate when qualified to enrol in another electorate.
204. Liability for indirect acts.
205. Application of Criminal Code.
PART XVIII – DISPUTED ELECTIONS, RETURNS, ETC.
Division 1 – Disputed Elections and Returns.
206. Method of disputing returns.
207. Jurisdiction of National Court exercisable by single Judge.
208. Requisites of petition.
209. Deposit as security for costs.
210. No proceedings unless requisites complied with.
211. Right of returning officer to be represented.
212. Powers of court.
213. Production of postal vote certificate, etc.
214. Inquiries by Court.
215. Voiding election for illegal practices.
216. Court to report, etc., cases of offences.
217. Real justice to be observed.
218. Immaterial errors not to vitiate election.
219. Evidence that person not permitted to vote.
220. Decision to be final.

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221. Copies of petition and order of court to be sent to the Parliament.
222. Counsel or solicitor.
223. Costs.
224. Deposits applicable for costs.
225. Other costs.
226. Effect of decision.
227. Definition of “petition”.
Division 2 – Qualifications and Vacancies.
228. Reference of question of qualification or vacancy.
229. Speaker to state case.
230. Parties to the reference.
231. Powers of courts.
232. Order to be sent to the Parliament.
233. Application of certain sections.
PART XIX – LOCAL-LEVEL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS.
Division 1 – Preliminary.
234. Application of this Part.
235. Interpretation.
“approved form”
“Assistant Returning Officer”
“ballot-box”
“ballot-paper”
“candidate”
“election petition”
“elector”
“illegal practice”
“interpreter”
“Local-level Government”
“official mark”
“polling booth”
“Presiding Officer”
“the Returning Officer”
“roll”
“ward”
“writ”
Division 2 – Administration.
236. Returning officers.
237. Assistant returning officers.
238. Presiding officers, etc.
239. General requirements.
240. Approved forms.
241. Availability of forms.
Division 3 – Electoral Rolls.
242. Rolls.
243. Form of Rolls.
244. New Rolls.

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245. Additions, etc., to new Rolls.
246. Objections and notices to have effect in relation to new Rolls.
247. Printing of Rolls.
248. Inspection.
249. Officers and others to furnish information.
Division 4 – Qualifications and Disqualifications for
Enrolment and for Voting.
250. Persons entitled to enrolment.
Division 5 – Enrolment.
251. Officers.
252. Addition of names to Rolls.
253. Claims for enrolment.
254. Witness to application must satisfy himself of truth of statement.
255. Compulsory enrolment and transfer.
256. Registration of claim.
257. Notification of rejection of claim.
258. Time for altering Rolls.
259. Penalty on officer neglecting to enrol claimants.
260. Alteration of Rolls.
261. Special provisions for certain nominations.
262. Incorrect enrolment.
263. Alterations to be initialled.
Division 6 – Objections.
264. Names on Roll may be objected to.
265. Objection.
266. Duty to object.
267. Notice of objection.
268. Answer to objection.
269. Determination of objection.
Division 7 – Appeals in relation to Enrolment.
270. Appeal to District Court.
Division 8 – Writs for Elections.
271. Writs for general elections.
272. Writs for vacancies.
273. Form of writs.
274. Time of issue of writs.
275. Address of writs.
276. Date and period of nomination.
277. Date of polling.
278. Date of return of writ.
279. Duty of returning officer on receipt of writ.
280. General election to be held on same day.
280A. Failure to observe requirements.
Division 9 – Nominations and Polling.
281. Nominations.
282. Polling.

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282A. Vote to be marked in Private.
282B. Method of marking Ballot-paper.
Division 10 – Scrutiny.
283. Scrutiny.
[283A - 283C. Repealed]
Division 11 – Interpreters.
284. Interpreters.
Division 12 – Return of the Writs.
285. Return of the writs.
Division 13 – Offences.
286. Illegal practices.
Division 14 – Disputed Elections and Returns.
287. Disputed elections and returns.
PART XX – MISCELLANEOUS.
288. Local government rules on advertising, etc.
289. Institution of proceedings for defences.
289A. Civil Claims against the Electoral Commission.
290. Certificate evidence.
291. Electoral matter may be sent by electronic means.
292. Averments deemed to be proved.
293. Defendant may be called upon to give evidence.
294. Production of claims for enrolment, etc.
295. Preservation of ballot-papers.
296. Prescribed offences.
297. Constitutional regulations.
PART XXI – REPEAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENT.
298. Repeal.
299. Consequential amendments to Organic Law on Provincial Governments and
Local-level Governments.
PART XXII – SAVINGS AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS.
300. Interpretation.
301. Electoral Commissioner.
302. Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers.
303. Staff.
304. Procedures relating to 1997 general election.
305. Constitutional regulations pertaining to 1997 elections.
SCHEDULE 1

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 INDEPENDENT STATE OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA.

AN ACT

entitled

Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elections,

Being an Organic Law to implement Section 125 (electorates) Section 126 (elections)
and Section 187C (Constitution, functions, etc., of Provincial Governments and
Local-level Governments) of the Constitution by providing for–
(a) a Boundaries Commission; and
(b) the defining of boundaries of National Electorates; and
(c) an Electoral Commission; and
(d) the holding of National Elections; and
(e) the holding of Local-level Government Elections,
and to repeal the Organic Law on National Elections and other laws and to make
consequential amendments to the Organic Law on Provincial Governments
and Local-level Governments and for related purposes.

PART I. – PRELIMINARY.

1. COMPLIANCE WITH CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS.

This Organic Law, to the extent that it regulates or restricts a right or freedom
referred to in Subdivision III.3.C (qualified rights) of the Constitution, namely–
(a) the right to freedom from arbitrary search and entry conferred by
Section 44 of the Constitution; and
(b) the right to freedom of conscience, thought and religion conferred by
Section 45 of the Constitution; and
(c) the right to freedom of expression conferred by Section 46 of the
Constitution; and
(d) the right to freedom of assembly and association conferred by Section 47
of the Constitution; and
s. 2. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(e) the right to privacy conferred by Section 49 of the Constitution; and

(f) the right to vote and stand for public office conferred by Section 50 of
the Constitution; and
(g) the right to freedom of information conferred by Section 51 of the
Constitution,
is a law that is made for the purpose of giving effect to the public interest in public
safety, public order and public welfare.

2. APPLICATION OF THIS LAW.

Subject to Part XXII, Section 3 and Parts II to XVIII inclusive of this Law–
(a) apply to and in respect of elections to the National Parliament; and
(b) apply to and in respect of elections to Local-level Governments–
(i) only to the extent authorized by Part XIX; and
(ii) subject to such modification as is authorized by Part XIX.

3. INTERPRETATION.
(1)1 In this Law, unless the contrary intention appears–
“candidate”, in Parts II and XVII, includes a person who, within three
months before the first day of the polling period, announces himself as a
candidate for election as a member of the Parliament;
“elector” means a person whose name appears on a Roll as an elector;
“electoral officer” includes the Electoral Commissioner, a Returning Officer,
presiding officer, substitute presiding officer, assistant presiding officer,
poll clerk, interpreter and doorkeeper;
23“electorate” means an open electorate;
“electronic advice” means communication by any electronic means;
“member” means a member of the Parliament;
“officer” means an officer or employee of the National Public Service, a
member of the Defence Force, a member of the Police Force, a member
of the Correctional Service, an officer or employee of a Provincial
Government or an officer or employee of a Local-level Government or an
officer or employee of a governmental body;
“polling booth” means the polling place or part of the polling place
determined by the presiding officer to be a polling booth under Section
118(2);

1
Section 3 Subsection (1) amended by No. 28 of 2002, s. 2.
2
Section 3 Subsection (1) amended by No. 28 of 2002, s. 2.
3
Section 3 Subsection (1) amended by No. 28 of 2002, s. 2.
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 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 4.

“polling period”, in relation to an election, means the period for polling the
first and last days of which are specified in the writ for that election and
includes any extension of that period granted under Section 176;
“population” means–
(a) in the case where a National Census of Population has, in the
opinion of the National Statistician, been completed and–
(i) from which in his opinion he is able to provide satisfactory
estimates of population; and
(ii) in relation to which a redistribution has not previously
been carried out,
the population as at the date of that National Census of Population as
estimated by the National Statistician; and
(b) in any other case–the population as estimated by the National
Statistician as at such date prior to the date of the redistribution
as in the opinion of the National Statistician is the most recent
date at which he can give a satisfactory estimate;
“Province” includes the National Capital District;
“Roll” means an Electoral Roll under this Law;
“the Boundaries Commission” means the Boundaries Commission
established by Section 26;
“the Committee” means the Electoral Commission Appointments Committee
established by Section 6;
“the Electoral Commission” means the Electoral Commission continued in
establishment by Section 5;
“the Electoral Commissioner” means the Electoral Commissioner
appointed under Section 5;
“the Parliament” means the National Parliament;
“the Returning Officer”, in relation to an electorate, means the Returning
Officer for that electorate;
“this Law” includes any regulations made under this Law.
(2) Notwithstanding any other law, where a time limit is imposed under this
Law for the taking of an action, then unless the contrary intention appears, that time
limit is mandatory.
(3) An opinion given by the National Statistician as to the population is non-
justiciable.

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s. 4. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

4. REFERENCE OF CERTAIN QUESTIONS TO NATIONAL COURT.

Any question as to whether a person has been validly elected as a member of
the Parliament or whether the seat of a member has become vacant shall be
determined by the National Court.

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 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 5.

PART II. – ADMINISTRATION.

5. ELECTORAL COMMISSION.
(1) The Electoral Commission established under the Organic Law on National
Elections (repealed by this Law) continues in establishment.
(2) The Electoral Commission shall consist of the Electoral Commissioner.
(3) The Electoral Commissioner shall be appointed by the Head of State, acting
with, and in accordance with, the advice of the Committee, by notice published in the
National Gazette.

6. ELECTORAL COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE.

There is hereby established an Electoral Commission Appointments
Committee consisting of–
(a) the Prime Minister or a Minister appointed by him, who shall be
Chairman; and
(b) the Leader of the Opposition or in his absence the Deputy Leader of the
Opposition; and
(c) the Chairman of the appropriate Permanent Parliamentary Committee;
and
(d) the Chairman of the Public Services Commission.

7. MEETINGS OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS

COMMITTEE.
(1) The Committee shall meet at such times and places as, in the opinion of the
Chairman, are necessary for the efficient conduct of its affairs.
(2) Questions arising at a meeting of the Committee shall be decided by a
majority of the votes of the members.
(3) The Chairman has a deliberative vote and, in the event of an equality of
votes on a question, also a casting vote.
(4) The procedures of the Committee are as determined by the Committee.

8. CASUAL VACANCY, ETC.

(1) At any time when–
(a) the office of Electoral Commissioner is not filled on a permanent basis;
or
(b) the Electoral Commissioner is away from the country or for any reason
is not able to carry out his duties,

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s. 9. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

the Head of State, acting with, and in accordance with, the advice of the Committee,
may appoint a person to act in the office of Electoral Commissioner for a period not
exceeding six months.
(2) An acting Electoral Commissioner has and may exercise and perform all
the powers, duties and functions of the Electoral Commissioner.
(3) This Law applies to an acting Electoral Commissioner in the same way as
it applies to the Electoral Commissioner.

9. TERM OF OFFICE.
The Electoral Commissioner shall be appointed for a term of six years and is
eligible for re-appointment.

10. DECLARATION OF OFFICE.

Before entering upon the duties of his office, the Electoral Commissioner shall
make the Declaration of Office before the Chief Justice or a Judge of the National
Court appointed by the Chief Justice.

11. DISQUALIFICATIONS FROM OFFICE.

A person is not qualified to be, or to remain, the Electoral Commissioner if he
is–
(a) a member of the Parliament; or
(b) a member of a Provincial Assembly; or
(c) a member of a Local-level Government; or
(d) an office holder in a registered political party; or
(e) an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent; or
(f) of unsound mind within the meaning of any law relating to the
protection of the person and property of persons of unsound mind; or
(g) under sentence of death or imprisonment.

12. SPECIAL CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT.

(1) The Electoral Commissioner shall not–
(a) actively engage in politics; or
(b) except on leave granted by the Head of State, or because of illness,
absent himself from duty for more than 14 consecutive days or more
than 28 days in any period of 12 months; or
(c) subject to Subsection (3), acquire by way of a gift or otherwise, or use or
hold in any other manner, any interest in any property of Papua New
Guinea or solicit, accept or receive any other benefit in addition to his
terms and conditions of employment.
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 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 13.

(2) Nothing in Subsection (1) prevents the Electoral Commissioner from

holding office in a professional body in relation to which his qualifications are
relevant.
(3) Subject to any Organic Law made for the purposes of Division III.2
(leadership code) of the Constitution, the Electoral Commissioner may purchase,
lease or otherwise acquire land in the same manner and subject to the same
conditions as any other citizen.

13. RESIGNATION.
(1) The Electoral Commissioner may resign by giving three months notice in
writing of his intention to do so to the Head of State.
(2) The period of three months referred to in Subsection (1) shall be deemed to
commence on the twenty-second day after the receipt of the notice by the Head of
State except where the Head of State, acting with, and in accordance with, the advice
of the Committee, by notice in writing to the Electoral Commissioner, fixes an earlier
date for the commencement.
(3) The Electoral Commissioner may withdraw his resignation at any time
before the period of three months referred to in Subsection (1) commences.

14. RETIREMENT.
(1) Subject to Subsection (2), a person who has attained the age of 55 years
shall not be appointed or re-appointed as the Electoral Commissioner and a person
shall not be appointed or re-appointed for a period that extends beyond the date on
which he will attain the age of 55 years.
(2) The Head of State, acting with, and in accordance with, the advice of the
Committee, may, for special reasons in a particular case, appoint or re-appoint a
person who is over 55 years of age to be the Electoral Commissioner but in no case
shall the Electoral Commissioner continue to act as the Electoral Commissioner after
he has attained the age of 60 years.

15. PRIME FUNCTION OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION.

It is the prime function of the Electoral Commission to organize and conduct
all elections for the Parliament and the legislative arms of the Local-level
Governments.

16. STAFF TO BE MADE AVAILABLE BY CERTAIN BODIES.

4Where so requested by the Electoral Commission –
(a) the Department responsible for personnel matters; and
(b) any governmental body,

4
Section 16 Substituted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 3.
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s. 17. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

shall make available to the Electoral Commission and to each Returning Officer such
staff as may be necessary for the discharge of the functions conferred on the Electoral
Commission.

17. APPLICATION OF PUBLIC FINANCES (MANAGEMENT) ACT 1995.

Part VIII of the Public Finances (Management) Act 1995 applies to and in
relation to the Electoral Commission.

18. DELEGATION.
(1) The Electoral Commission may, by instrument in writing, delegate to an
officer all or any of its powers and functions under this Law (except this power of
delegation and any prescribed power and function), so that the delegated powers or
functions may be had, exercised and performed by the delegate in relation to such
electorate or electorates, or to such matters or class of matters, or to the whole of the
country or such part of the country, as is specified in the instrument of delegation.
(2) Every delegation under Subsection (1) is revocable, in writing, at will.
(3) No delegation under this Section prevents the exercise or performance of a
power or function by the Electoral Commission.

19. RETURNING OFFICERS.

5(1)
The Electoral Commission shall, by notice in the National Gazette, appoint
a Returning Officer for each electorate, who shall be charged with the duty of giving
effect to this Law within or for his electorate, subject to any directions of the
Electoral Commission.
(2) A person maybe appointed Returning Officer for more than one electorate
and may perform the functions and duties of a Returning Officer for more than one
electorate at the same time.
(3) A Returning Officer may, following consultations with the Electoral
Commission, seek the assistance of such persons, both individuals and group of
individuals including a committee, to plan for the preparation or updating of Rolls
and the conduct of elections provided that the functions performed, or the powers
exercised, by a Returning Officer under or in accordance with this Law remain the
functions and powers of the Electoral Commission.
(4) Regulations may make provisions for the Committees to be established by a
Returning Officer to assist him in the exercise of his powers and functions under
Subsection (3).
(5) The Electoral Commission may, on the nomination of a Returning Officer,
appoint authorized enrolment agents in a Ward under the responsibility of that
Returning Officer to undertake enrolment in that Ward and perform such other
duties and responsibilities as are prescribed.

5
Section 19 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 1.
–8–
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 20.

(6) Regulations make further provisions for the duties and responsibilities of
authorized enrolment agents appointed under Subsection (5).
(7) A direction from the Electoral Commission to a returning Officer not to
make a declaration of result shall bind the Returning Officer and if the Returning
Officer or any other Electoral Officer makes a declaration despite the direction, that
declaration in invalid.

20. ASSISTANT RETURNING OFFICER.

(1) Subject to this section, the Electoral Commission may, by notice published
in the National Gazette, appoint a person to be an Assistant Returning Officer for a
portion of an electorate.
(2) A person appointed to be an Assistant Returning Officer for a portion of an
electorate may, subject to this Law and to the Regulations and to the control of the
Returning Officer, perform the functions and exercise the powers of the returning
Officer, in, or in relation to, that portion of the electorate.
(3) An Assistant Returning Officer shall not be appointed for a portion of an
electorate for which less than 100 electors are enrolled.
(4) Where the services of an Assistant Returning Officer are required for the
purposes of one election only, the appointment may be made by the Returning Officer
by instrument in writing, and in that case the appointment terminates upon the
completion of the election.
(5)6 7The failure to publish a notice in the National Gazette under this section
shall not be a ground for invalidating an election.

21. APPOINTMENT IN CASES OF EMERGENCY.

(1) Subject to Subsection (2), in the event of a vacancy occurring in an office of
Returning Officer or Assistant Returning Officer, or in the absence from duty of any
such officer, the Electoral Commission may, by notice in writing, appoint a person to
perform the duties of the office during the period of the vacancy or absence.
(2) The Electoral Commission shall publish each notice under Subsection (1) in
the National Gazette.
(3) In the event of a vacancy occurring in an office of Assistant Returning
Officer appointed under Section 20(4), or in the absence from duty of any such officer,
the Returning Officer may, by instrument in writing, appoint a person to perform the
duties of the office during the period of the vacancy or absence.
(4) An appointment under Subsection (1) is temporary only, and does not
confer on the appointee any right or claim to be permanently appointed to the
position.

6
Section 20 Subsection (5) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 2.
7
Section 20 Subsection (5) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 2.
–9–
s. 22. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(5)8 9The failure to publish a notice in the National Gazette under this section
shall not be a ground for invalidating an election.

22. DATE FROM WHICH APPOINTMENTS ARE TO TAKE EFFECT.

A person appointed to be a Returning Officer or an Assistant Returning Officer
under Section 21 shall be deemed to have been appointed as from the date specified
in his appointment, or, if no such date is specified, as from the date of his
appointment.

23. CANDIDATES NOT TO BE ELECTORAL OFFICERS.

No candidate shall be appointed an electoral officer, and if an electoral officer
becomes a candidate he thereby vacates his office.

24. KEEPING OF FORMS.

All Returning Officers shall keep forms of claim for enrolment and transfer
and such other forms as are prescribed, and shall without fee supply them to the
public and assist the public in their proper use.

8
Section 21 Subsection (5) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 3.
9
Section 21 Subsection (5) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 3.
– 10 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 25.

PART III. – ELECTORATES.

25. ELECTION OF MEMBERS TO THE PARLIAMENT.

(1) Subject to this Law, for the purposes of elections to the Parliament there
shall be such electorates in the country as are provided by this Law.
(2) One member shall be elected for each electorate by electors entitled to vote
in respect of that electorate.

26. BOUNDARIES COMMISSION.

10(1)
For the purposes of a redistribution of Papua New Guinea into
electorates, there is hereby established a Boundaries Commission consisting of–
(a) the Electoral Commissioner who shall be Chairman; and
(b) the Surveyor-General; and
(c) the National Statistician; and
(d) three persons, other than officers, (one of whom being a person with
experience in conducting an inquiry), appointed by the Head of State,
acting with, and in accordance with, the advice of the Electoral
Commission.
(2) Where there is no substantive holder of any of the offices referred to in
Subsection (1)(a), or (c), an acting holder of the office may, in relation to his position
as a member of the Boundaries Commission, exercise all the powers and privileges of
and perform the functions of a substantive holder of the office.

27. TERM OF OFFICE.

A member of the Boundaries Commission referred to in Section 26(1)(d) shall
be appointed for a term of six years.

28. DISQUALIFICATIONS FROM OFFICE.

A person is not qualified to be, or to remain, a member of the Boundaries
Commission if he is–
(a) a member of the Parliament; or
(b) a member of a Provincial Assembly; or
(c) a member of a Local-level Government; or
(d) an office-holder in a registered political party; or
(e) an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent; or
(f) of unsound mind within the meaning of any law relating to the
protection of the person and property of persons of unsound mind; or

10
Section 26 Substituted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 4.
– 11 –
s. 29. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(g) under sentence of death or imprisonment.

29. SPECIAL CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT.

(1) A member of the Boundaries Commission shall not–
(a) actively engage in politics; or
(b) except on leave granted by the Head of State, or because of illness,
absent himself from duty; or
(c) subject to Subsection (3), acquire by way of gift or otherwise, or use or
hold in any other manner any interest in any property in Papua New
Guinea or solicit, accept or receive any other benefit in addition to his
terms and conditions of employment.
(2) Nothing in Subsection (1) prevents a member of the Boundaries
Commission from holding office in a professional body in relation to which his
qualifications are relevant.
(3) Subject to any Organic Law made for the purposes of Division III.2
(leadership code) of the Constitution, a member of the Boundaries Commission who is
a citizen may purchase, lease or otherwise acquire land in the same manner and
subject to the same conditions as any other citizen.

30. RESIGNATION.
(1) A member of the Boundaries Commission, other than a member referred to
in Section 26(a), (b) or (c) may resign by giving three months’ notice in writing of his
intention to do so to the Head of State.
(2) The period of three months specified in Subsection (1) shall be deemed to
commence on the twenty-second day after the receipt by the Head of State of the
notice except where the Head of State. acting with, and in accordance with, the
advice of the Committee, by notice in writing to the member. fixes an earlier date for
the commencement.
(3) A member of the Boundaries Commission may withdraw his resignation at
any time before the period of three months referred to in Subsection (1) commences.

31. RETIREMENT.
(1) Subject to Subsection (2), a person who has attained the age of 55 years
shall not be appointed or re-appointed as a member of the Boundaries Commission
and a person shall not be appointed or re-appointed for a period that exceeds beyond
the date on which he will attain the age of 55 years.
(2) The Head of State, acting with, and in accordance with, the advice of the
National Executive Council, may, for special reason in a particular case, appoint or
re-appoint a person who is over 55 years of age to be a member of the Boundaries
Commission but in no case can any member of the Boundaries Commission continue
to act as a member after he attained the age of 60 years.
– 12 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 32.

32. ACTING APPOINTMENTS TO THE COMMISSION.

(1) At any time when a position of a member of the Boundaries Commission is
not filled on a permanent basis, or when a permanent member of the Boundaries
Commission is away from the country or for any reason is not able to carry out his
duties, the Head of State, acting with, and in accordance with, the advice of the
Electoral Commission may appoint a person to be an acting member of the
Boundaries Commission.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the position of a member of the Boundaries
Commission who has been appointed in accordance with Section 26(1)(d).
(3) In a case referred to in Subsection (2) the Head of State, acting with, and in
accordance with, the advice of the Electoral Commission may appoint a person to be
an acting member of the Boundaries Commission.
(4) The appointment of an acting member of the Boundaries Commission
continues until a permanent member is appointed or the permanent member returns
to the country or becomes able again to carry out his duties, as the case may be.
(5) An acting member of the Boundaries Commission has and may exercise
and perform all the powers, duties and functions of the position on the Boundaries
Commission to which he was appointed.
(6) This Law applies to an acting member of the Boundaries Commission in
the same way as it applies to a permanent member who held the position to which he
was appointed.

33. PROCEEDINGS AT MEETINGS.

(1) At a meeting of the Boundaries Commission, the Chairman shall preside if
he is present.
(2) In the absence of the Chairman from a meeting of the Boundaries
Commission, the members of the Commission present shall appoint one of their
number to preside at the meeting.
(3) At a meeting of the Boundaries Commission, three members of the
Commission form a quorum.
(4) Questions arising before the Boundaries Commission shall be decided by a
majority of votes of the members present and voting.
(5) The person presiding at a meeting of the Boundaries Commission has a
deliberative vote, and, in the event of an equality of votes on a question, also a
casting vote.

– 13 –
s. 34 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

3411. [REPEALED.]

35. OPEN ELECTORATES.

(1)12 13The number of open electorates shall be as determined by the
Boundaries Commission but in no case shall the number of open electorates be less
than 110 or more than 120.
(2) There shall be at least one open electorate in each Province.
(3)14 15The Boundaries Commission may –
(a) determine the name of a new open electorate; or
(b) inquire into and, where it considers that the name of an open electorate
does not appropriately describe the electorate as a whole or for any
other reason a name is considered inappropriate at any time, change the
name of that open electorate.

36. SIZE OF OPEN ELECTORATES.

(1) For the purposes of a proposed redistribution of the country into open
electorates, the Boundaries Commission shall determine a population quota by the
following formula:–

Q = P/N
where–
“Q” is the population quota for the electorate; and
“P” is the total population of the country; and
“N” is the provisional number of open electorates as determined by the
Boundaries Commission within the limits specified in Section 35.
(2) Subject to Subsection (3), in drawing the boundaries of open electorates, the
Boundaries Commission shall not draw them in such a way that–
(a) the population of any electorate is more than 20 per centum more than
or less than 20 per centum less than the population quota prescribed by
Subsection (1) except in circumstances which in the opinion of the
Boundaries Commission would otherwise lead to an unreasonable
result; or
(b)16 the boundaries of an open electorate cut across the boundary of a
province.

11
Section 34 Repealed by No. 28 of 2002, s. 5.
12
Section 35 Subsection (1) amended by No. 28 of 2002, s. 6.
13
Section 35 Subsection (1) amended by No. 28 of 2002, s. 6.
14
Section 35 Subsection (3) inserted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 6.
15
Section 35 Subsection (3) inserted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 6.
16
Section 36 Subsection (2) amended by No. 28 of 2002, s. 7.
– 14 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 37.

(3) Where the Boundaries Commission has–

(a) at a meeting determined the provisional number of electorates and
proceeded to determine the population quota calculated for that number
of electorates in accordance with Subsection (1); and
(b) a later meeting determines that there be more or less electorates than
the provisional number determined at the earlier meeting,
the Boundaries Commission shall not redetermine the population quota.
(4) In determining the degree of variation of size between electorates (within
the 20 per centum plus or minus allowable) the Boundaries Commission shall give
due consideration to–
(a) density of population; and
(b) physical features and communications; and
(c) existing electoral boundaries; and
(d) Local-level Government and provincial and other administrative areas;
and
(e) the community and diversity of interest, where it considers it relevant
to do so.

37. NOTICE OF PROPOSED REDISTRIBUTION.

17(1)
In accordance with Section 125 (Electorates) of the Constitution or
otherwise, where the Boundaries Commission, after its own initial investigation, is of
the opinion that a redetermination of boundaries is required, it shall –
(a) give public notification of its intention to redetermine boundaries in –
(i) the National Gazette; and
(ii) a national newspaper circulating throughout the country; and
(b) cause a map with a description of the boundaries of the proposed
electorates to be exhibited at such National, Provincial and Local-level
Government offices as will give the people of the country a reasonable
opportunity of seeing it.
(2) A notification under Section (1)(a) shall –
(a) invite public attention to the map referred to in Subsection (1)(b) and
state the places and times at which the map may be inspected; and
(b) fix a date (being a date not less than two months following the date of
publication of the the notification under Subsection (1)(a)) on which and
a place at this a public inquiry into the proposed redistribution will be
heard; and

17
Section 37 Substituted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 8.
– 15 –
s. 38. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(c) invite any of the following to attend the ublic inquiry and make
representations or objections on the proposed redistribution: –
(i) any member of the Parliament affected by the proposed
redistribution;
(ii) the members of the Provincial Government and of any Local-level
Government Council of the area affected by the proposed
redistribution;
(iii) the officers of the National Public Service employed in the areas
affected by the proposed redistribution;
(iv) any cultural or land groups in the ares affected by the proposed
redistribution;
(v) any other person whom the Boundaries Commission considers
relevant.
(3) Any written representations or objections reffered to in Subsection (2)(c)
may be lodged with the Chairman of the Boundaries Commission at any time before
the date fixed for a public inquiry under Subsection (2)(b).

38. PUBLIC INQUIRY.

18TheBoundaries Commission shall hold a public inquiry on the date at the
place fixed under Section 37(2) and shall consider all representations and objections
made at the public inquiry or previously submitted to the Chairman of the
Boundaries Commission.

39. REPORT OF BOUNDARIES COMMISSION.

(1)19 20The Boundaries Commission shall, as soon as practicable after
completion of the public inquiry referred to in Section 38, forward to the Minister a
report of its proposals for the re-distribution of the country into electorates, together
with a map signed by not less than three members of the Boundaries Commission
showing the boundaries of each proposed electorate.
(2) The report shall state, as nearly as can be ascertained, the population in
each proposed electorate.

40. REPORT TO BE LAID BEFORE THE PARLIAMENT.

The report and map forwarded under Section 39 shall be presented by the
Minister to the Parliament within seven sitting days after its receipt by him.

18
Section 38 Amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 4; Substituted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 8.
19
Section 39 Subsection (1) amended by No. 28 of 2002, s. 9.
20
Section 39 Subsection (1) amended by No. 28 of 2002, s. 9.
– 16 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 41.

41. DETERMINATION OF NEW ELECTORATES.

21(1)
The Parliament shall consider a report presented under Section 40 and
shall, subject to Subsection (2), by resolution made within two months of the date of
presentation of the recommendations –
(a)22 accept the recommendations pf the Boundaries Commission for a
proposed redistribution; or
(b) reject the recommendations of the Boundaries Commission for a
proposed redistribution; or
(c) reject the recommendations of the Boundaries Commission for a
proposed redistribution and refer back to the Boundaries Commission
specific matters relating to the recommendations for redistribution.
(2) The Parliament may refer a report presented under Section 40 to an
appropriate Parliamentary Committee to consider and report back to Parliament,
and where Parliament makes such a referral, the period of two months referred to in
Subsection (1) shall be read as four months.
(3) Where the Parliament –
(a)23 by resolution under Subsection (1)(a) accepts the recommendations of
the Boundaries Commission for a proposed redistribution; or
(b) fails to make a resolution under Subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c) on the
recommendations of the Boundaries Commission for a proposed
redistribution,
the recommendations of the Boundaries Commission for a proposed redistribution
constitute a determination of the open electorates and their boundaries and those
electorates until altered shall, Subject to Subsection (5), be the open electorates for
the purposes of election of members to the Parliament.
(4) The Minister shall cause the number of open electorates and their
boundaries determined in accordance with Subsection (3) or (9) to be published in the
National Gazette.
(5) Until –
(a) in the case of a determination under Subsection (3) or (9) in respect of
redistribution in pursuance of Section 125 (Electorates) of the
Constitution –the dissolution or expiration of the Parliament scheduled
to be elected in 2002; and
(b) in the case of any other determination under Subsection (3) or (9) –the
dissolution or expiration of the Parliament next following the
determination,

21
Section 41 Substituted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 10.
22
Section 41 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 5.
23
Section 41 Subsection (3) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 5.
– 17 –
s. 41. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

the redistribution shall not affect the election of a new member to fill a vacancy
happening in Parliament, but for the purposes of any such election the electorates as
previuosly existing, and the Rolls in respect of these electorates, shall continue to
have full force and effect, notwithstanding that the new Rolls for the electorates may
have been prepared.
(6) Where the Parliament –
(a) by resolution under Subsection (1)(b) rejects the recommendations of the
Boundaries Commission for a proposed redistribution; or
(b) by resolution under Subsection (1)(c) rejects the recommendations of the
Boundaries Commission for a proposed redistribution and refers back to
the Boundaries Commission specific matters relating to the
recommendations for reconsideration,
the Boundaries Commission shall, within 40 days of the date of the resolution –
(c) in a case to which Paragraph (a) applies, reconsider the
recommendations in the report submitted under Section 40; and
(d) in a case to which Paragraph (b) applies reconsider the specific matters
referred to it,
and shall submit a further report making new recommendations or confirming its
previous recommendations and shall forward to the Minister a copy of the further
report, together with, in the case of any new recommendations, a map signed by not
less than three members of the Boundaries Commission showing the boundaries of
each proposed open electorate.
(7) The report and any map forwarded to him under Subsection (6) shall be
presented by the Minister to the Parliament within seven sitting days after its
receipt by him.
(8) The Parliament shall consider a report presented under Subsection (6) and
may, by resolution made within 40 days of such presentation –
(a) by a simple majority, accept; or
(b) by two thirds absolute majority, reject,
the recommendations of the Boundaries Commission for a proposed redistribution.
(9) Where –
(a) a resolution under Subsection (8)(a) accepts the recommendations of the
Boundaries Commission for a proposed redistribution; or
(b) a resolution under Subsection (8)(b) fails to obtain a two thirds absolute
majority; or
(c) the period of 40 days referred to in Subsection (8) has expired without
the determination of a resolution under Subsection (8)(a) or (b),
the recommendations of the Boundaries Commission for a proposed redistribution
shall constitute a determination of the open electorates and their boundaries and

– 18 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 42.

those electorates until altered shall, subject to Subsection (5), be open electorates for
the purposes of election of members of Parliament.
(10) Where the Parliament, in accordance with Subsection (8)(b), rejects the
recommendations of the Boundaries Commission for a proposed redistribution, the
recommendations shall not take effect.

42. CHANGE OF ELECTORS FROM ONE ROLL TO ANOTHER.

(1) When boundaries of an electorate are alerted, such changes as are thereby
rendered necessary for the transfer of the names of the electors from one Roll to
another shall be made by removing the names of those electors from the Roll from
which they are changed, and by inserting the names so removed in the Roll to which
they are changed.
(2) The transfer of names of electors from one Roll to another Roll under this
Section shall be notified by the Electoral Commission in the National Gazette and in
a newspaper circulating in the part of the country concerned.
(3) If the Electoral Commission considers that a notification in accordance with
Subsection (2) is not effective as notice to a particular elector whose enrolment has
been transferred, it may cause notice of the transfer to be sent by post or otherwise to
the elector, or may take such other action as it considers desirable to ensure
adequate publicity.

– 19 –
s. 43. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

PART IV. – POLLING PLACES.

43. POLLING PLACES.

(1) The Electoral Commission may, by notice published in the National
Gazette or in a newspaper circulating in the electorate–
(a) appoint such number of polling places for each electorate as it thinks
necessary and practicable; and
(b) abolish a polling place.
(2) No polling place shall be abolished after the issue of the writ and before the
time appointed for its return.

– 20 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 44.

PART V. – ELECTORAL ROLLS.

Division 1.
24Electoral Rolls.

44. ROLLS.
25(1) There shall be a Roll for each electorate.
(2) A Roll of an electorate may be made up of a number of Ward Rolls in the
case of an open electorate and a number of open electorate Rolls in the case of a
provincial electorate.

45. FORM OF ROLLS.

(1) A Roll shall be in such form as is determined by the Electoral Commission,
and shall set out the name, address and occupation (or other prescribed particulars)
and sex of each elector, and shall contain such further particulars as are prescribed
or as the Electoral Commission directs.
(1A)26 27A Roll determined by the Electoral Commission under Subsection (1)
may be kept in electronic form.
(2) A direction under Subsection (1) may relate to the whole or a part of the
country.

Division 2.
28New Rolls.

46. NEW ROLLS.

29All
persons who are entitled to be enrolled on a Roll shall, subject to this
Law, be so enrolled.

46A. PREPARATION OF NEW ROLLS.

30(1)
A new Roll for an electorate shall be prepared whenever the Electoral
Commission, by notice published published in the National Gazette, directs.
(2) A notice under Subsection (1) may specify the manner in which the Rolls
shall be prepared, and may require any person, or member of a classs of persons,
entitled to enrolment on a new Roll and whose name does not appear on it to sign
and send to the proper officer a form of claim for enrolment and otherwise to comply
with the provisions of this Law relating to compulsory enrolment.

24
Division 1 of Part V Heading inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 6.
25
Section 44 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 7.
26
Section 45 Subsection (1A) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 8.
27
Section 45 Subsection (1A) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 8.
28
Division 2 of Part V Heading inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 9.
29
Section 46 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 10.
30
Section 46A Inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 10.
– 21 –
s. 47. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(3) A new Roll may be prepared where: –

(a) a new electorate is created; or
(b) there has been a major movement of people out of or into an existing
electorate; or
(c) the Electoral Commission considers that it is necessary for other
reasons to create a new Roll.
(4) Subject to Subsection (5), no names on an existing Roll may be
automatically transferred to a new Roll.
(5) The entries in an existing Roll may, at the discretion of the Electoral
Commission, be transferred to a new Roll without the need for the persons whose
names are in the transferred entires to make any further claim for enrolment.
(6) The Electoral Commission may appoint persons to assit in the compilation
of a new Roll.
(7) The Electoral Commission shall, as soon as it is practicable to do so after
the preparation of new Rolls, by notice published in the National Gazettee, notify
that the new Rolls have been prepared.

47. ADDITIONS, ETC., TO NEW ROLLS.

Upon the receipt by the Returning Officer of a new Roll for an electorate, the
Returning Officer shall–
(a) make additions, alterations and corrections in it; and
(b) remove names from it,
in accordance with information received by him between the date of the notice
directing the preparation of new Rolls and the date of the notification that the Rolls
have been prepared, where the additions, alterations or corrections have not already
been made in, or the removals have not been made from, the Roll.

48. OBJECTIONS AND NOTICES TO HAVE EFFECT IN RELATION TO

NEW ROLLS.
Where objections have been lodged or notices of objection have been issued and
action in respect of those objections or notices has not been completed before the
notification of the preparation of new Rolls, the objections or notices have effect in
relation to the new Rolls as if those Rolls had been in existence at the time of the
lodging of the objections or the issuing of the notice.

– 22 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 48A.

Division 4.
31Printing and Inspection.
Division 3.
Existing Rolls.

48A. EXISTING ROLLS.

32(1)
A Returning Officer shall be responsible for the revision and compilation
of an existing Roll.
(2) A Returning Officer may revise or compile a ward Roll at such times as he
considers necessary.
(3) A Returning Officer may obtain the assistance of any person as he
considers necessary to revise an existing Roll.
(4) A Returning Officer shall follow such directions as are given by the
Electoral Commission in the revision of an existing Roll.
(5) Where an elector is enrolled in respect of an address in an electorate for
which he is entitled to be enrolled, he shall not be required to sign and send in any
further claim for enrolement in connection with the compilation or revision of an
existing Roll.

49. PRINTING OF ROLLS.

(1) Rolls shall be printed whenever the Electoral Commission so directs.
(2) Supplemental Rolls, setting out additions since the latest print of the Rolls,
may, as necessary, be prepared and printed immediately after the issue of the writs
for an election, and at such other times as the Electoral Commission directs.

50. INSPECTION.
(1) Copies of the latest print of the electorate Roll and of all supplemental
prints shall be open for public inspection at the office of the Returning Officer at all
convenient times during his ordinary office hours without fee, and at such other
places as the Returning Officer appoints for the purpose.
(2) Copies of the latest print of the electorate Roll and of all supplemental
prints shall be obtainable at the office of the Returning Officer on payment of the
prescribed fee.

51. OFFICERS AND OTHERS TO FURNISH INFORMATION.

All officers and all occupiers of habitations and all persons who are, or appear
to be, entitled to enrolment shall upon application furnish to the Electoral
Commission or to a Returning Officer, or to an electoral officer acting under the

31
Division 4 of Part V Heading inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 12.
32
Section 48A of Part V Inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 11.
– 23 –
s. 51. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

directions of the Electoral Commission or the Returning Officer, all information that
it or he requires in connection with the preparation, maintenance or revision of the
Rolls.

– 24 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 52.

PART VI. – QUALIFICATIONS AND DISQUALIFICATIONS FOR

ENROLMENT AND FOR VOTING.

52. PERSONS ENTITLED TO ENROLMENT.

(1) All persons who have a right to vote under Section 50 (right to vote and
stand for public office) of the Constitution who comply with the requirements of Part
VII for enrolment for an electorate are entitled to enrolment.
(2) All persons whose names are on the Roll for an electorate shall, subject to
this Law and to the provisions of any other law in force, vote at elections of a member
for the electorate, but no person is entitled to vote more than once at an election, or
at more than one election held at the same time.
(3)33 [Repealed.]

33
Section 52 Subsection (3) omitted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 11.
– 25 –
s. 52A. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

PART VII. – ENROLMENT.

Division 1.
34Application.

52A. APPLICATION OF THIS PART.

35This
Part applies to the preparation of a new Roll and the revision and
compilation of an existing Roll.

Division 2.
36Officers.

53. OFFICERS.
(1)37 38The Electoral Commission may appoint persons to assist in the
preparation, compilation and revision of the Rolls.
(2) A person appointed under Subsection (1) has such functions and duties as
are prescribed or as the Electoral Commission directs.
(3)39 40Notwithstanding Subsections (1) and (2), the Electoral Commission
may, on the recommendation of a Returning Officer, appoint enrolment agents to
assist in the preparation, compilation or revision of a Roll.
(4)41 42The Regulations may provide for the duties to be preformed by the
enrolment agents and for the publication of their names either in the National
Gazette or in other documentation released to the area in which the appointments
relate.
(5)43 44A person appointed as an enrolment agent under Subsection (3) who
deliberately: –
(a) completes a claim for enrolment for an ineligible person; or
(b) completes a claim for enrolment for a person who is already enrolled on
a Roll or who has already completed an enrolment form; or
(c) includes in any list the name of a person referred to in Paragraphs (a) or
(b) with the purpose of having the persons name included on a Roll, is
guilty of an offence.

34
Division 1 of Part VII Heading inserted by No. 88 of 2006, s. 1.
35
Section 52A Amended by No. 88 of 2006, s. 2; Inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 13.
36
Division 2 of Part VII Heading inserted by No. 88 of 2006, s. 3.
37
Section 53 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 14.
38
Section 53 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 14.
39
Section 53 Subsection (3) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 14.
40
Section 53 Subsection (3) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 14.
41
Section 53 Subsection (4) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 14.
42
Section 53 Subsection (4) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 14.
43
Section 53 Subsection (5) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 14.
44
Section 53 Subsection (5) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 14.
– 26 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 54.

Penalty: (a) a fine not exceeding K1,000.00; and

(b) ineligibility to hold elective public office, whether at the
National, Provincial or Loca-level Government level; and
(c) ineligibility for employment as a Public Servant in the Public
Service or in the provincial service including a Provincial
Government and a Local-level Government.
(6)45 46A person, who encourages, procures, aids or abets an enrolment agent to
commit the offence referred to in Subsection (5), is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: (a) a fine not exceeding K1,000.00; and
(b) ineligibility to hold elective public office, whether at National,
Provincial or Local-level Government Level; and
(c) ineligibility for employment as a Public Servant in the Public
Service or in the provincial service including a Provincial and
Local-level Government.

Division 3.
47Claims for enrolment and transfer.

54. ADDITION OF NAMES TO ROLLS.

In addition to any other method provided for by law, names may be added to
Rolls in accordance with claims for enrolment or transfer of enrolment.

55. CLAIMS FOR ENROLMENT.

(1) Subject to this Section and to Section 52, a person who–
(a) has resided in the area of an electorate for a period of not less than six
months immediately preceding the date of his claim for enrolment; or
(b) is nominated for an electorate for which he is not enrolled and was
either born in the electorate or lived in the electorate for five years at
any time, is entitled to have his name placed on the Roll for that
electorate.
(2) Where the name of a person is placed on a Roll in accordance with
Subsection (1)(a), he shall be enrolled in respect of the address of his last residence in
the electorate.
(3) Where the name of a person is placed on a Roll in accordance with
Subsection (1)(b), he shall be enrolled in respect of his last-known place of residence
in the electorate.

45
Section 53 Subsection (6) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 14.
46
Section 53 Subsection (6) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 14.
47
Division 3 of Part VII Heading inserted by No. 88 of 2006, s. 4.
– 27 –
s. 56. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(4)48 49The Electoral Commission may, in relation to a person or class of

persons, direct that a claim for enrolment be in the prescribed form and shall be
signed: –
(a) by the claimant and attested by a person who shall sign his name as
wtiness in his own handwriting; or
(b) by an authorized enrolment agent.
(5)50 51Regulations may prescribe when a claim for enrolment may be rejected
for irregularities in the form including the rejection of claims for enrolment without
serial numbers or with the wrong serial numbers.
(6)52 53It is an offence: –
(a) for a person whose name is on an existing Roll to make a claim for
enrolment; or
(b) for a person to make multiple claims for enrolment in his own name or
in the names of others; or
(c) for a person to make claims for enrolment in the name of an ineligible
persons or non-existent persons; or
(d) for a person, other than an enrolment agent who is duly appointed, to
make a claim for enrolment of another person.
(7)54 55A person witnessing a claim for enrolment or transfer of enrolment
shall, before he affixes his signature to it, satisfy himself, by an inquiry from the
claimant or otherwise, that the statements contained in the claim are true, unless he
knows that the statements contained in the claim are true.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K400.00.

56. PROVISIONAL ENROLMENT.

56(1)
A person who is not yet eligible to be on the Roll but who will become
eligible to be in the Roll before the issue of a writ for the next planned election in the
electorate may be provisionally placed on the Roll.
(2) A person who is provisionally enrolled shall not vote in an election held
earlier than an election to which he was provisionally enrolled under this section.
(3) A Returning Officer may, at any time, remove the name of a person who is
provisionally on a Roll if the person does not become entitled to remain on the Roll.

48
Section 55 Subsection (4) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 15.
49
Section 55 Subsection (4) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 15.
50
Section 55 Subsection (5) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 15.
51
Section 55 Subsection (5) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 15.
52
Section 55 Subsection (6) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 15.
53
Section 55 Subsection (6) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 15.
54
Section 55 Subsection (7) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 15.
55
Section 55 Subsection (7) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 15.
56
Section 56 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 16.
– 28 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 57.

(4) Regulations may make other provisions on provisional enrolments

including how names are entered on a Roll.

57. COMPULSORY ENROLMENT AND TRANSFER.

(1) A person who is entitled to have his name placed on the Roll for an
electorate, whether by way of enrolment or transfer of enrolment, and whose name is
not on that Roll shall, at the first reasonably practicable opportunity, make a claim
in the prescribed form to the Returning Officer for that electorate.
(1A)57 58The Electoral Commission or a Returning Officer maypublish a notice
in the National Gazette and a newspaper circulating in the electorate concerned that
the Returning Officer is ready to accept claims for enrolment or transfer of enrolment
in the whole of the electorate or a part of the electorate and shall state the period
within which he is so available and where is available.
(2)59 60A person, who is entitled to have his name placed on the Roll for an
electorate, whether by way of enrolment or transfer of enrolment, and whose name is
not on the Roll during the period referred to in Subsection (1A) and fails to lodge a
claim for enrolment and is not entered on a Roll, is guilty of an offence unless he
proves that his non-enrolment is not in consequence of his failure to comply with the
provisions of Subsection (1).
(3) It is a defence to a charge of an offence against Subsection (2), if the
defendant shows that he did not know, and had no reasonable opportunity of
knowing, that his name was not on a Roll for which he was entitled to be enrolled.
(4) A person who is enrolled for the electorate in which he is residing and who
changes his place of residence from one address in the electorate to another address
in that electorate, and who has failed to notify, in the prescribed form, the new
address to the Returning Officer for that electorate at the first reasonably practicable
opportunity, is guilty of an offence.
(5) A person who is guilty of an offence against this Section is punishable,
upon conviction–
(a) in the case of a first offence–by a fine not exceeding K10.00; or
(b) in any other case–by a fine not exceeding K25.00.
(6) A prosecution for an offence against this Section shall not be instituted
without the consent of the Electoral Commission.

57
Section 57 Subsection (1A) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 17.
58
Section 57 Subsection (1A) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 17.
59
Section 57 Subsection (2) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 17.
60
Section 57 Subsection (2) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 17.
– 29 –
s. 58. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

Division 4.
61Registration and rejection of claims.

58. REGISTRATION OF CLAIM.

(1) Upon receipt of a claim for enrolment or transfer of enrolment, notification
of change of address within an electorate, or application for the alteration or
correction of particulars of an existing enrolment, the Returning Officer shall note
the date of its receipt by him, and if the claim, notification or application is in order
and he is satisfied that the claimant is entitled to be enrolled or to have his name
transferred or the particulars of his enrolment altered or corrected, as the case may
be, the Returning Officer shall, subject to Section 60–
(a) enter on the Roll kept by him the name of the claimant and the
particulars relating to him; and
(b) notify the claimant in writing that he has been enrolled; and
(c) in the case of a transfer of enrolment, give notice of the transfer to the
Returning Officer keeping the Roll from which the elector’s name has
been transferred.
(2) An interim acknowledgment of the receipt, after the issue of the writ for an
election and before the close of the polling at the election, of a claim for enrolment or
transfer of enrolment may be issued to the claimant by the Returning Officer in a
form approved by the Electoral Commission.
(3) The Returning Officer keeping the Roll from which an elector’s name has
been transferred shall, upon receipt of notice of the transfer in the prescribed form,
remove the elector’s name from the Roll kept by him.

59. NOTIFICATION OF REJECTION OF CLAIM.

The Returning Officer, on receipt of a claim, shall, subject to Section 60, after
making such inquiry as he considers necessary if he is satisfied that the claimant is
not entitled to enrolment or transfer of enrolment in accordance with the claim,
notify the claimant as soon as practicable in the prescribed manner that his claim
has been rejected, specifying the reason for the rejection, and advise the claimant
that he is entitled, at any time within three months after the receipt of the
notification, to appeal against the rejection in accordance with this Law.

60. PENALTY ON OFFICER FAILING TO ENROL CLAIMANTS.

62An
officer, who receives a claim for enrolment or transfer of enrolment and
who, without just excuse, the burden of proof of which lies upon him, fails to do
everything necessary on his part to be done to secure the enrolment of the claimant
in pursuance of the claim, is guilty of an offence.

61
Division 4 of Part VII Heading inserted by No. 88 of 2006, s. 5.
62
Section 60 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 18.
– 30 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 61.

Penalty: A fine not exceeding K1,000.00.

Division 5.
63Alterations of Rolls.

61. PENALTY ON OFFICER NEGLECTING TO ENROL CLAIMANTS.

64Notwithstanding anything in this Law: –
(a) claims for enrolment or transfer of enrolment which are received after
4.00 p.m. on the day of the issue of the writ for an election shall not be
registered until after the end of the polling period for the election; and
(b) except by direction of the Returning Officer, no name shall be removed
from a Roll under a notification of transfer of enrolment received after
4.00 p.m. on the day of the issue of the writ for an election and before
the end of the polling period for the election.

62. ALTERATION OF ROLLS.

(1) In addition to other powers of alteration conferred by this Law, a Returning
Officer may alter a Roll kept by him by–
(a) correcting a mistake or omission in the Roll; and
(b) correcting a mistake or omission in the particulars of the enrolment of
an elector; and
(c) altering, on the application of an elector, the original name, address or
occupation of the elector on the same Roll; and
(d) removing the name of a deceased elector; and
(e) striking out the superfluous entry where the name of the same elector
appears more than once on the same Roll; and
(f) reinstating a name removed by mistake; and
(g) reinstating a name removed as the result of an objection where he is
satisfied that the objection was based on a mistake as to fact and that
the person objected to still retains and has continuously retained his
right to the enrolment in respect of which the objection was made; and
(h)65 removing a name from the Roll where he is satisfied that the elector has
ceased to be qualified for enrolment on the Roll and has secured
enrolment on another Roll; and.
(i)66 removing a name from the Roll where he is reasonably satisfied that the
name is not the name of a person entitled to be on the Roll.

63
Division 5 of Part VII Heading inserted by No. 88 of 2006, s. 6.
64
Section 61 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 18.
65
Section 62 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 19.
66
Section 62 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 19.
– 31 –
s. 63. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(2) Where the name of an elector has, in error, been incorrectly placed on the
Roll for an electorate for which he is not entitled to be enrolled, and the elector is
entitled to have his name placed on the Roll for another electorate, the Returning
Officer for the electorate for which the elector is wrongly enrolled shall remove the
name of the elector from that Roll and shall notify the Returning Officer for the
electorate for which the elector is entitled to be enrolled accordingly, and that last-
mentioned Returning Officer shall place the name of the elector on his Roll and shall
notify the elector of the change of enrolment.
(2A)67 68A name removed under this Part by an honest mistake shall not be the
basis of any claim against the Electoral Commission, a Returning Office or an
enrolment agent who has made a recommendation for the name to be removed.
(3) No alteration under this Section shall, without the authority of the
Returning Officer, be made at any time after 4 p.m. on the day of the issue of the writ
for an election and before the end of the polling period for the election.

63. ALTERATIONS TO BE INITIALED.

69(1)
Every alteration of a printed Roll shall be made in such a manner that
the original entry shall not be obliterated, and the reason for each alteration and the
date of the alteration shall be set aginst the alteration, together with the initials of
the Returning Officer or of the person who makes the alterations on behalf of the
Returning Officer.
(2) Where a Roll is kept electronically, an alteration shall be clearly indicated
with the original entry noted and the date and person authorizing the alteration
noted against the entry.

Division 6.
70Special provisions for certain candidates.

64. SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR CERTAIN NOMINATIONS.

71(1)
Notwithstanding anything in this Law but subject to this section, where a
person who is entitled to do so has nominated for an electorate other than the
electorate for which he is enrolled: –
(a) the Returning Officer for the electorate for which he nominates shall
place his name on the Roll for that electorate and notify the Returning
Officer for the electorate for which he is enrolled who shall remove his
name from the Roll for that electorate; and
(b) if the nomination is withdrawn, the Returning Officer for the electorate
for which he was nominated shall remove his name from the Roll for

67
Section 62 Subsection (2A) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 19.
68
Section 62 Subsection (2A) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 19.
69
Section 63 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 20.
70
Division 6 of Part VII Heading inserted by No. 88 of 2006, s. 7.
71
Section 64 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 20.
– 32 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 65.

that electorate and notify the Returning Officer for the other electorate
who shall (unless electorate) restore his name to the Roll for that other
electorate; and
(c) if he fails to be elected, the Returning Officer for the electorate for which
he was nominated shall remove his name from the Roll for that
electorate and notify the Returning Officer for the other electorate who
shall restore his name to the Roll for that other electorate; and
(d) if he is elected and later ceases to be the member for the electorate, the
Returning Office for the electorate for which he was the member shall
remove his name from the Roll for that other electorate unless he has
ceased to be eligible for enrolment in that electorate and has been
enrolled in another electorate.

65. INCORRECT ENROLMENT.

72Wherea person whose name has been placed on the Roll for an electorate is
not entitled to enrol for that electorate and that person secured enrolment under a
claim in which he made a false statement, the Returning Officer may, at any time
between the date of the issue of the writ for an election for that electorate and before
the end of the polling period for that election, remove the name of that person from
that Roll.

72
Section 65 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 20.
– 33 –
s. 66. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

PART VIII.73 – OBJECTIONS.

Division 1.
74Normal Objection.

66. NAMES ON ROLL MAY BE OBJECTED TO.

75(1) person may, by written notice to the Returning Officer, object to a name
on the Roll.
(2) A sum of K10.00 shall be deposited in respect of each objection lodged by a
person other than an electoral officer or authorized agent, to be forfeited to Papua
New Guinea if the objection is held by the Returning Officer to be frivolous.

67. OBJECTION.
76An
objection under Section 66 shall be in the prescribed form, and shall be
signed by an elector enrolled on the same Roll as the person objected to, or by the
Returning Officer or by an authorized agent.

68. NOTICE OF OBJECTION.

77(1)
When an objection is made by or lodged with a retuning Officer, the
Returning Officer shall, subject to Subsection (3), give notice as soon as practicable of
the objection to the person objected to.
(2) A notice under Subsection (1) may be in the prescribed from, and may be
served by being posted or delivered to the last-known place of abode or place of work
of the person objected to.
(3) Where the Returning Officer is satisfied that the ground of objection stated
in an objection is not good ground of objection or is frivolous, he may dismiss the
objection, in which case no notice of the objection need be given to the person objected
to.
(4) Any objection on the ground that a person does not reside in the electorate
for which he is enrolled shall be deemed not to be good unless it alleges necessary to
qualify him for enrolment for that electorate.

73
Part VIII Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 21.
74
Division 1 of Part VIII Heading inserted by No. 88 of 2006, s. 8.
75
Section 66 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 21.
76
Section 67 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 21.
77
Section 68 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 21.
– 34 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 69.

Division 2.
78Objection by enrolment agent.

69. OBJECTION BY ENROLMENT AGENT OR OTHER PRESCRIBED

OFFICER.
79(1)
An enrolment agent may, during the time of his appointment to conduct
enrolment in a Ward, object to a class of persons or group of people in a prescribed
list by providing such list to the Returning Office.
(2) Upon receipt of a prescribed list under this section, the Returning Officer
may give notice of the objection in the prescribed form: –
(a) by forwarding it to the area where the persons reside; or
(b) by providing it to the village elder, councillor, village court magistrate or
other reliable person who, in the opinion of the Returning Officer, is
likely to bring the objection to the notice of the persons named in the
notice.
(3) A person, who knowingly encourages or procures an authorized agent to
include in a prescribed list named of persons who should not be in the list and which
results in the removal of the name of any person form a Roll, is guilty of an offence
and is liable to the same penalties under Section 53(5).
(4) A person, who encourages or procures an authorized to cause a fraudulent
deletion, is guilty of an offence and is liable to the same penalties as those applying
to fraudulent enrolment.

Division 3.
80Determination of objections.

70. ANSWER TO OBJECTION.

81A
person objected to under this Part may, orally or in writing in the
prescribed manner, answer the objection.

71. DETERMINATION OF OBJECTION.

82(1)
Subject to Subsection (2), the Returning Officer shall determine an
objection under this Part as soon as practicable after receipt by him of the answer of
the person objected to, or, if no answer is received within a period of one month after
the posting or delivery of the notice referred to in Section 68(1) and if it appears that
the person objected to is not entitled to be enrolled on the Roll in respect of which the
objection has been made, the Returning Officer shall–

78
Division 2 of Part VIII Heading inserted by No. 88 of 2006, s. 9.
79
Section 69 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 21.
80
Division 3 of Part VIII Heading inserted by No. 88 of 2006, s. 10.
81
Section 70 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 21.
82
Section 71 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 21.
– 35 –
s. 71. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(a) remove the name of the person from the Roll; and
(b) cause a copy of the notice of determination to be posted to or served on
the objector and the person objected to.
(2) No name shall be removed from a Roll under this Section after 4 p.m. on
the day of issue of the writ for an election and before the end of the polling period for
the election.

– 36 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 71A.

PART 8A.83 – VOTE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM.

71A. VOTER IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM.

84(1)
The Electoral Commission may establish and manage a system to identify
voters entitled to vote.
(2) A system of identification established under Subsection (1) may take any
one or more of the following forms: –
(a) manual finger print system;
(b) computer recorded and recognized finger print system;
(c) computer recorded and recognized palm recognition system; or
(d) computer, electronic or other photogenic system.
(3) The Regulation may make provisions on how the system is kept and used.

71B. MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION OF VOTER IDENTIFICATION

SYSTEM.
85(1)
The Electoral Commission may authorize a person to maintain and
operate an identification system.
(2) An authorization under Subsection (1) shall be on the following
conditions: –
(a) the initial period of authorization shall not exceed 15 years which may
be renewed for periods of not less than 5 years thereafter;
(b) the system shall be in such form as the Electoral Commission directs;
(c) not more than one person shall be authorized to keep a system at a
time.

71C. NON-DISCLOSURE OF DETAILS OF VOTER IDENTIFICATION

SYSTEM.
86TheElectoral Commission or other person operating an identification system
shall not divulge any information, images or other details kept in the voter
identification system except for election relates purposes and for the purposes of
using the information for any criminal investigations or prosecutions.

83
Part 8A Inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 21.
84
Section 71A Inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 21.
85
Section 71B Inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 21.
86
Section 71C Inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 21.
– 37 –
s. 72. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

PART IX. – APPEALS.

72. APPEAL TO DISTRICT COURT.

(1) A person–
(a) who has made a claim for enrolment or transfer of enrolment in
accordance with this Law, and has not been enrolled; or
(b) whose name has been removed from a Roll by the Returning Officer
after an objection,
may at any time within two months after the receipt of notice of the rejection of the
claim or of notice of the determination of the objection, as the case may be, make
application in the prescribed manner to a District Court for an order directing that
his name be enrolled or reinstated on the Roll, as the case requires.
(2) Where an objection has been determined by the Returning Officer
adversely to the person objecting, that person may in the prescribed manner apply to
a District Court for an order sustaining the objection.
(3) Where an application under this Section has reference to the decision of the
Returning Officer upon an objection, the applicant shall, as prescribed, serve the
objector or the person objected to, as the case requires, with notice of the application,
and the person so served may appear, or may in writing authorize any person to
appear on his behalf, to resist the application.
(4) The court may hear and determine an application under this section, and
may make such order as it thinks fit as to the costs of the application.
(5) Costs ordered by the court to be paid may be recovered in the same manner
as the costs of any other proceeding before the court.
(6) The Clerk of the Court shall send by post to the Returning Officer a
certified copy of the order of the court, and the Returning Officer shall make such
entries (if any) upon the Roll as are necessary to give effect to the order.
(7)87 88There shall not be any appeal by an enrolment agent under this section.

87
Section 72 Subsection (7) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 22.
88
Section 72 Subsection (7) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 22.
– 38 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 73.

PART X. – WRITS FOR ELECTIONS.

73. WRITS FOR GENERAL ELECTIONS.

The Head of State, acting with, and in accordance with, the advice of the
Electoral Commission, shall issue his writ for a general election of members in
accordance with the provisions of Section 105 (general elections) of the Constitution.

74. WRITS FOR VACANCIES.

In the case of an election under Section 106 (by-election) of the Constitution,
the Head of State, acting with, and in accordance with, the advice of the Electoral
Commission, shall, as soon as practicable after the vacancy occurs, issue his writ for
the election of a new member.

75. FORM OF WRITS.

(1) The writs for elections shall be in Form 1 or Form 2, as the case requires, in
Schedule I, and shall fix the date for–
(a) nominations; and
(b)89 the first and last days of the period during which polling shall take
place; and
(c) the return of the writ.
(2) The Electoral Commission shall, as soon as practicable after the issue of a
writ–
(a) advertize its issue and particulars in at least one newspaper circulated
in the electorate to which the writ relates; and
(b) forward a copy to each Provincial Government and Local-level
Government in the electorate; and
(c) take such further steps as it considers desirable to ensure adequate
publicity.

76. TIME OF ISSUE OF WRITS.

For the purposes of this Law, a writ shall be deemed to have been issued at the
hour of 4 p.m. on the day on which the writ was issued.

77. ADDRESS OF WRITS.

(1) Writs for election of members shall be addressed to the respective
Returning Officers for the electorates for which the elections are to be held, and may
be issued through the Electoral Commission.

89
Section 75 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 23.
– 39 –
s. 78. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(2) The Electoral Commission may advise any Returning Officer by electronic
advice of the issue of the writ for an election and the particulars of the writ, and for
the purposes of Section 82 the Returning Officer may act on the advice as if the writ
had been received by him.

78. DATE AND PERIOD OF NOMINATION.

Nomination of the candidates shall commence on the date of the writ, and the
period of nomination shall not exceed seven days, including the date of the writ.

79. DATE OF POLLING.

90(1)
The date fixed for the commencement of the polling period shall be a
Saturday and shall be not less than eight weeks not more than 11 weeks after the
date of the writ.
(2) Where special circumstances require, the Electoral Commission may, by
notice in the National Gazette: –
(a) fix a date for commencement of polling on a day other than a Saturday;
and
(b) determine whether the period specified in Subsection (1) shall be
increased or decreased.

80. DATE OF RETURN OF WRIT.

91(1)
The date fixed for the return of the writ shall not be more than 21 days
after the end of the polling period.
(2) Where special circumstances require, the Electoral Commission may, by
notice in the National Gazette, extend the period specified in Subsection (1).

81. GENERAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON SAME DAY.

92(1)
Subject to this section, in the case of a general election, the same day
shall be fixed for the commencement of the polling period in each electorate, and all
writs shall be made returnable on the same day.
(2) Where special circumstances make it necessary for the Electoral
Commission to fix different polling commencement dates for different electorates, the
Commission may do so by notice in the National Gazette provided that the date
schedules for the return of writs is the same day for all electorates.
(3) Where special circumstances make it necessary, the Electoral Commission
may return a writ after the date fixed for the return of writs.

90
Section 79 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 24.
91
Section 80 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 24.
92
Section 81 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 24.
– 40 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 82.

82. DUTY OF RETURNING OFFICER ON RECEIPT OF WRIT.

On the receipt of a writ, the officer to whom it is directed shall endorse on it
the date of its receipt.

82A. USE OF SPECIAL PROCEDURES IN ELECTIONS.

93(1)An Act of the Parliament may define circumstances which amount to
special circumstances for the purposes of this section and where the Electoral
Commission is of the opinion that such special circumstances exist or may exist in
relation to an election, it may within seven days of the date of issue of the writ under
Section 73 or 74 for that election, by notice in the National Gazette, declare that
special procedures shall be used in that election in relation to all or any of the
following: –
(a) the polling;
(b) the voting;
(c) the scrutiny.
(2) in the case of a general election the special procedures may apply to all or
any of the electorates and the special procedures to be used may differ from one
electorate to another.
(3) The special procedures referred to in this section –
(a) shall –
(i) be as to ensure that the principles of democratic elections
prescribed by Section 126 (Elections) of the Constitution are
observed and upheld; and
(ii) be within the spirit of this Law; and
(iii) be used only where special circumstances so require; and
(b) may include, but not limited to, all or any of the following: –
(i) finger-printing to identify voters and their entitlements to vote;
(ii) identity cards to identify voters and their entitlement to vote;
(iii) alteration of polling;
(iv) modification of scrutiny procedures.
(4) A declaration under Subsection (1) shall specify –
(a) the election to which it applies; and
(b) in the case of a general election, the electorates to which it applies; and
(c) the special procedures to be used; and
(d) the special circumstances that exist or may exist which give rise to the
declaration.

93
Section 82A Inserted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 12.
– 41 –
s. 82B. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(5) A Constitutional Regulation or an Act of the Parliament may prescribe the

manner in which finger-printing and identity cards may be used for the pruposes of
identifying voters and their entitlement to vote.

82B. FAILURE TO OBSERVE REQUIREMENT UNDER PART X.

94Thefailure to observe a requirement under Part X shall not be a ground for
invalidating an election.

94
Section 82B Inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 25.
– 42 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 83.

PART XI. – THE NOMINATIONS.

83. CANDIDATES MUST BE NOMINATED.

No person is qualified to be elected as a member unless he has been duly
nominated.

84. QUALIFICATIONS FOR NOMINATION.

No person is qualified for nomination for an electorate while he is nominated
for another electorate and that last-mentioned nomination has not been withdrawn.

85. MODE OF NOMINATION.

A nomination shall be in the prescribed form and shall–
(a) name the candidate, his place of residence and occupation; and
(b) set out the qualifications by virtue of which he is qualified for
nomination; and
(ba)95 state the political party that endorses the candidate or, if no political
party endorses the candidate, state the word“ independent”; and
(c) be witnessed by a person to whom the candidate is personally known.

86. TO WHOM NOMINATION MADE.

(1)96 97Nominations of members may be made to the Returning Officer for the
electorate for which the election is to be held, to the Provincial Returning Officer of
the province in which the Open electorate is located, to an Assistant Returning
Officer for that electorate, or to a person thereunto authorized by the Electoral
Commission.
(2) Nominations may be made at any time after the issue of the writ and–
(a) in the case of a nomination made to the Returning Officer–before the
hour of nomination; and
(b) in the case of a nomination made–
(i) to an Assistant Returning Officer or other person referred to in
Subsection (1); or
(ii) in respect of a person who is not enrolled for the electorate,
before the commencement of the period of 48 hours immediately preceding the hour
of nomination.
(3) Where a nomination is made to an Assistant Returning Officer or other
person referred to in Subsection (1), he shall immediately notify the Returning

95
Section 85 Amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 26.
96
Section 86 Subsection (1) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 27.
97
Section 86 Subsection (1) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 27.
– 43 –
s. 87. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

Officer by electronic advice, in the prescribed form, of the details of the nomination
and deposit and forward the nomination to the Returning Officer.

87. REQUISITES FOR NOMINATION.

98(1) No nomination is valid unless–
(a) the person nominated consents to act if elected, and declares that he is
qualified under the laws of Papua New Guinea to be elected as a
member; and
(b) the nomination paper, or the electronic advice referred to in Section
86(3), as the case may be, is received by the Returning Officer after the
issue of the writ and before the hour of nomination; and
(c) at the time of the delivery of the nomination paper the person
nominated or some person on his behalf pays to the Returning Officer or
other person to whom the nomination is made the nomination fee of
K1,000.00 in money or in a banker’s cheque.
(2) Where, in relation to a nomination, objection is made by anyone, or the
Electoral Commission on its own motion believes, that a person who has nominated
is not qualified to be a Member of Parliament, the Electoral Commission may reject
the nomination.
(3) Only one nomination form per candidate is valid and acceptable and, where
more than one nomination is received and the additional nomination or nomination
forms have not been withdrawn in accordance with Section 94, the nomination
received first in time is valid.

88. FORM OF CONSENT TO ACT.

The consent and the declaration of qualifications referred to in Section 87(a)
shall be sufficient if the candidate signs the form of consent and declaration in the
nomination paper, but the Returning Officer receiving the nomination, or the
electronic advice of the nomination, as the case may be, may accept any other form of
consent and declaration, whether accompanying the nomination paper or not, that he
considers satisfactory, and that acceptance is final.

89. FORMAL DEFECTS.

No nomination shall be rejected by reason of a formal defect or error if the
Returning Officer receiving the nomination, or the electronic advice of it, as the case
may be, is satisfied that the provisions of this Law have been substantially complied
with.

98
Section 87 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 28.
– 44 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 90.

90. NOMINATION FEE NON-REFUNDABLE.

Subject to Section 95, the nomination fee paid by or on behalf of a candidate at
an election is non-refundable.

91. PLACE OF NOMINATION.

99The following places shall be the places for nomination: –
(a) the office of the Returning Officer;
(b) the office of the Provincial Returning Officer; and
(c) the office of the Electoral Commissioner before a person authorized by
the Electoral Commissioner to accept nominations.

92. HOUR OF NOMINATION.

The hour of nomination is 4 p.m. on the day of nomination.

93. DECLARATION OF NOMINATIONS.

The Returning Officer for the electorate for which an election is being held
shall, at the hour of nomination, attend at the place of nomination for the electorate,
and shall there publicly produce all nomination papers and electronic advices of
nominations received by him, and declare the names, addresses and occupations of
all candidates nominated.

94. WITHDRAWAL OF NOMINATION.

(1) A candidate may withdraw his nomination by lodging with the Returning
Officer for the electorate, or with an Assistant Returning Officer for the electorate or
a person authorized for that purpose by the Electoral Commission, a notice of
withdrawal in the prescribed form, and thereupon the nomination shall be cancelled
and the deposit lodged shall be returned.
(2) A withdrawal of nomination may be made–
(a) in the case of a notice of withdrawal lodged with the Returning Officer–
at any time before the hour of nomination; or
(b) in the case of a notice of withdrawal lodged with an Assistant Returning
Officer or other person referred to in Subsection (1)–more than 24 hours
before the hour of nomination.
(3) Where a notice of withdrawal of nomination is lodged with an Assistant
Returning Officer or other person referred to in Subsection (1), he shall immediately
notify the Returning Officer by electronic advice, in the prescribed form, of the
withdrawal and forward the notice to the Returning Officer.

99
Section 91 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 29.
– 45 –
s. 95. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(4)100 101A political party endorsement made on a nomination form shall not be
withdrawn or otherwise amended after the hour of nomination.

95. RETURN OF NOMINATION FEE IN CASE OF CANDIDATE’S DEATH.

In the case of the death of a candidate before the end of the polling period, the
nomination fee paid by him shall be returned to his legal personal representative.

96. PROCEEDINGS ON NOMINATION DAY.

(1) If one candidate only is nominated for an electorate, the Returning Officer
shall declare that candidate duly elected.
(2) If in an election more candidates than one are nominated, the proceedings
shall, subject to the provisions of this Law relating to voting before the
commencement of the polling period, stand adjourned to the commencement of the
polling period.

96A. CANCELLATION OF AN ELECTION.

102(1)
Notwithstanding any provision in this Law, the Head of State may,
acting on the advice of the Electoral Commissioner given in accordance with
Subsection (2), withdraw a writ issued for an election.
(2) Where the Electoral Commission, acting only on the recommendation of the
Electoral Advisory Committee, and between the issue of a writ and the declaration of
result, if the circumstances prevailing in an electorate are such that a proper conduct
of elections in that electorate is not practicable, the Electoral Commission may advise
the Head of State to withdraw the writ.
(3) Where a writ is withdrawn under this section, a supplementary election
shall be held as soon as the circumstances resulting in the withdrawal of writ have
changed and, in the opinion of the Electoral Commission, it is practical to conduct an
election.

96B. DISQUALIFICATION FROM HOLDING ELECTIVE OFFICE.

103(1)
A person who is convicted of an offence under this Law or other offence
(including an accessory, aiding or being a party in other way provided by law) that
relates to or which offence contributed to the creation of the circumstances
responsible for resulting in the withdrawal of a writ shall be, in addition to any other
penalty provided for that offence, disqualified from nominating for an elective public
office.

100
Section 94 Subsection (4) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 30.
101
Section 94 Subsection (4) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 30.
102
Section 96A Inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 32.
103
Section 96B Inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 32.
– 46 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 96C.

(2) A court hearing a criminal prosecution brought against an accused person

in relation to an offence referred to in Subsection (1) may impose the penalty
specified therein in addition to any other penalty.

96C. ELECTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

104(1) An Election Advisory Committee is hereby established.
(2) The functions of the Election Advisory Committee are to provide
recommendations and advice to the Electoral Commission: –
(a) on matters provided in this Law; and
(b) on any other matters relating to elections as are referred to it by the
Electoral Commission.
(3) The members of the Election Advisory Committee are: –
(a) the Chief Ombudsman (or his nominee); and
(b) two other persons of whom: –
(i) one shall be nominated by the Board of the Transparency
International (PNG) Inc.; and
(ii) one shall be a retired judge or lawyer qualified to be appointed a
judge nominated by the Electoral Commissioner after consulting
the Chief Ombudsman and the Chairman of Transparency
International (PNG) Inc.;
appointed by the Head of State, acting on advice of the
Electoral Commission.

(4) The Election Advisory Committee shall make recommendations or advice

the Electoral Commission only.
(5) The Election Advisory Committee shall meet as often as required and shall
adopt its own procedures to regulate its proceedings.
(6) The Electoral Commission may pay the reasonable expenses of the
Members of the Election Advisory Committee incurred in the performance of the
functions under this section but they shall not be paid any remuneration.

104
Section 96C Inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 32.
– 47 –
s. 97. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

PART 11A. – 105ELECTION CANCELLATION AND FAILURE.

97. FAILURE OF ELECTION.

(1) Subject to this Law, whenever an election fails a new writ shall be issued
for a supplementary election by the Head of State, acting with, and in accordance
with, the advice of the Electoral Commission, as soon as practicable after the failure
occurs.
(2) An election shall be deemed to have failed if no candidate is nominated or
returned as elected.

105
Part 11A Heading inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 31.
– 48 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 98.

PART XII. – VOTING BY POST.

98. APPLICATION BY ELECTORS FOR A POSTAL VOTE CERTIFICATE

AND POSTAL BALLOT-PAPER.
(1) An elector who–
(a) will not, throughout the polling period–
(i) be within the electorate for which he is enrolled; or
(ii) be within 16km by the nearest practicable route of a polling booth
open in the electorate for which he is enrolled; or
(b) will be travelling or be away from his residence under conditions which
will preclude him from voting at a polling booth open in the electorate
for which he is enrolled; or
(c) is seriously ill or infirm, and by reason of that illness or infirmity will be
precluded from attending at a polling booth to vote, or, in the case of a
woman, will by reason of approaching maternity or of the necessity for
caring for her infant be precluded from attending at a polling booth to
vote; or
(d) is, by reason of his membership of a religious order or of his religious
beliefs–
(i) precluded from attending at a polling booth; or
(ii) precluded from voting at a reasonably accessible polling place; or
(e) is a citizen residing abroad,
may make application for a postal vote certificate and postal ballot-paper.
(2) An application under this section, setting out the grounds upon which the
elector claims to vote by post, may be made in writing, in person or by letter or
electronic advice after the tenth day after the issue of the writ for the election to the
Returning Officer for the electorate for which the applicant is enrolled.
(3) An application under this Section shall not be deemed to have been duly
made if it reaches the officer to whom it is made after the commencement of the
polling period for the election for which the applicant is enrolled.
(4) An elector shall not make, and a person shall not induce an elector to make.
a false statement in an application for a postal vote certificate and postal ballot-
paper.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K1,000.00 or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding six months, or both.

– 49 –
s. 99. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

99. PENALTY FOR IMPROPERLY INDUCING ELECTOR TO APPLY FOR

POSTAL VOTE.
A person shall not improperly persuade or induce, or associate himself with a
person in improperly persuading or inducing, an elector to make application for a
postal vote certificate and postal ballot-paper.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K1,000.00 or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding one month.

100. ISSUE OF CERTIFICATE AND BALLOT-PAPERS.

(1) Subject to Subsection (2), the Returning Officer who receives an application
under this Part, if he is satisfied that it is properly made, shall deliver or post to the
applicant a postal vote certificate printed on an envelope addressed to the Returning
Officer for the electorate for which the applicant declares that he is enrolled, a postal
ballot-paper and the prescribed directions to the elector and the authorized witness.
(2) Before delivering or posting a postal vote certificate and postal ballot-paper
under Subsection (1), the Returning Officer shall insert in the certificate the name,
address, occupation and sex of the elector and, if necessary, shall insert the name of
the electorate and the names of the candidates and complete the instructions on the
ballot-paper.
(3) Where an application under this Part is received after 4 p.m. on the day
preceding the first day of the polling period in the electorate for which the elector is
enrolled, a Returning Officer shall not post to the elector a postal vote certificate or
postal ballot-paper.
(4) The postal vote certificate and postal ballot-paper shall be in the prescribed
form.

101. INSPECTION OF APPLICATIONS.

(1) All applications for postal vote certificates and postal ballot-papers received
by a Returning Officer shall be kept by him.
(2) All applications for postal vote certificates and postal ballot-papers shall be
open to public inspection at all convenient times during office hours from and
including the third day after the last day of the polling period until the election can
no longer be questioned.

102. NUMBERING OF APPLICATIONS AND CERTIFICATES.

(1) The Returning Officer shall number all applications for postal vote
certificates and postal ballot-papers received by him in consecutive order, and shall
number each postal vote certificate with a number corresponding with the number of
the application.
(2) The Returning Officer shall initial the back of all postal ballot-papers
issued, in such a position as to be easily seen when the ballot-paper is folded so as to
conceal the vote.
– 50 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 103.

103. RETURNING OFFICER TO NOTIFY ISSUE OF POSTAL VOTE

CERTIFICATE AND POSTAL BALLOT-PAPER.
(1) The Returning Officer for an electorate in respect of which postal vote
certificates and postal ballot-papers have been issued shall, if there is time
conveniently to do so, note on the certified lists of votes the names of all electors to
whom postal vote certificates and postal ballot-papers have been issued.
(2) If there is not time conveniently to note on a certified list of voters the issue
of a postal vote certificate and postal ballot-paper, the Returning Officer shall, if
practicable and reasonable, advise the presiding officer to whom the certified list of
voters has been furnished of the issue of the postal vote certificate and postal ballot-
paper.
(3) An elector to whom a postal vote certificate has been issued is not entitled
to vote at a polling booth unless he first delivers to the presiding officer for
cancellation his postal vote certificate and postal ballot-paper.

104. AUTHORIZED WITNESSES.

(1) Subject to Subsection (2), the following persons are authorized witnesses
within the meaning of this Law:–
(a) an elector or person who is qualified to be an elector;
(b) where the vote is recorded outside the country, a person to whom the
elector is well known.
(2) A person who is a candidate at an election is not an authorized witness at
that election or at any other election held at the same time.

105. DIRECTIONS FOR POSTAL VOTING.

The following directions for regulating voting by means of postal ballot-papers
shall be substantially observed:–
(a) the elector shall exhibit his postal ballot-paper (unmarked) and his
postal vote certificate to an authorized witness;
(b) the elector shall indicate the grounds on which he wishes to vote by post
by striking out those grounds in the postal vote certificate which do not
apply to his particular case;
(c) the form of declaration printed on the envelope bearing the postal vote
certificate shall, after being filled in, be signed by the elector in the
space provided for the signature of the voter in the presence of the
authorized witness;
(d) the authorized witness shall then and there sign his name in his own
handwriting in the declaration printed on the envelope bearing the
postal vote certificate in the place provided for the signature of the
authorized witness, and shall add the title under which he acts as an
authorized witness and the date;
– 51 –
s. 106. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(e) the elector shall then and there, in the presence of the authorized
witness but so that the authorized witness cannot see the vote, mark his
vote on the ballot-paper in the prescribed manner, fold the ballot-paper,
place it in the envelope addressed to the Returning Officer for the
electorate in which he is entitled to vote;
(f) the elector shall promptly post or deliver the envelope or cause it to be
posted or delivered, to the Returning Officer for the electorate in which
he is entitled to vote;
(g) in the case of an elector suffering from a disability referred to in Section
140 the authorized witness shall mark the elector’s vote on the ballot-
paper and shall then and there fold the ballot-paper so that the vote
cannot be seen, place it in the envelope addressed to the Returning
Officer, fasten the envelope, and hand it to the voter, who shall post or
deliver it, or cause it to be posted or delivered, to the Returning Officer
for the electorate in which he is entitled to vote;
(h) the authorized witness shall not suffer or permit any person (other than
the elector) to see or become acquainted with the elector’s vote, or to
assist the elector to vote, or to interfere in any way with the elector in
relation to his vote.

106. DUTY OF AUTHORIZED WITNESS.

(1) An authorized witness shall–
(a) comply with the provisions of Section 105 insofar as they are to be
complied with on his part; and
(b) see that the directions in that Section are complied with by every elector
voting by post before him, and by every person present when the elector
votes; and
(c) refrain from disclosing any knowledge of the vote of an elector voting by
post before him.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K1,000.00 or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding six months
(2) An authorized witness shall not influence, or attempt to influence, in any
way the vote of an elector voting by post before him.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K1,000.00 or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding one year.

107. PENALTY FOR UNLAWFULLY MARKING POSTAL BALLOT-PAPER.

No person other than–
(a) the elector to whom the postal ballot-paper has been issued; or
(b) an authorized witness, acting under Section 105, assisting an elector in
accordance with that section,
– 52 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 108.

shall mark a vote upon a postal ballot-paper.

Penalty: A fine not exceeding K1,000.00 or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding one year.

108. UNLAWFULLY OPENING POSTAL BALLOT-PAPER.

No person other than the Returning Officer for the electorate in respect of
which a postal ballot-paper has been issued, or an officer acting under his directions,
shall open the envelope in which a postal ballot-paper has been placed under Section
105 and which has been fastened by the elector or by an authorized witness in
accordance with the provisions of that section.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.

109. PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO POST OR DELIVER POSTAL BALLOT-

PAPER.
A person to whom an application for a postal vote certificate and postal ballot-
paper, or an envelope containing or purporting to contain a postal ballot-paper, is
entrusted by a voter for the purpose of posting or delivering to a Returning Officer or
Assistant Returning Officer, or delivery to a presiding officer, and who fails as soon
as practicable to post or deliver the application or envelope, is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00 or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding three months.

110. PENALTY FOR INDUCING ELECTOR TO HAND OVER POSTAL

BALLOT-PAPER.
A person shall not persuade or induce an elector to hand over to him a postal
ballot-paper upon which a vote has been recorded.

111. DUTY OF PERSONS PRESENT WHEN AN ELECTOR VOTES BY

POST.
A person present when an elector is before an authorized witness for the
purpose of voting by post shall–
(a) obey all directions of the authorized witness; and
(b) refrain from making any communication whatever to the elector in
relation to his vote; and
(c) refrain from assisting the elector or in any manner interfering with him
in relation to his vote; and
(d) refrain from looking at the elector’s vote or from doing anything
whereby he may become acquainted with the elector’s vote.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K1,000.00 or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding six months.

– 53 –
s. 112. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

112. BALLOT-BOX FOR POSTAL VOTES.

The Returning Officer shall keep a locked ballot-box on which the words
“Postal Ballot Box” are conspicuously marked, and shall place and keep in that
ballot-box, until the preliminary scrutiny under Section 155, all envelopes containing
or bearing a postal vote certificate and purporting to contain a postal ballot-paper
issued in respect of his electorate which–
(a) are delivered to him before the end of the polling period; or
(b) are received by him through the post up to the end of the polling period.

– 54 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 113.

PART XIII. – THE POLLING.

Division 1.
Polling Schedule.

113. POLLING SCHEDULE.

(1) Subject to any directions given by the Electoral Commission, the Returning
Officer shall, as soon as practicable after the close of nominations, prepare a polling
Schedule showing the anticipated dates and times, within the polling period for the
electorate, during which the polling booths will open at the polling places in the
electorate, in such manner as he considers will give all electors in the electorate a
reasonable and sufficient opportunity to vote at the election.
(2) Nothing in Subsection (1) or in this Law shall be construed to mean that
polling shall be conducted on each day throughout the polling period or on any
particular day in the polling period.

114. PUBLICATION OF POLLING SCHEDULE.

(1) The polling Schedule shall be published in the National Gazette and in a
newspaper circulating in the electorate, and the Returning Officer shall take such
other action as he considers necessary or desirable, or as is directed by the Electoral
Commission, to ensure adequate publicity for the polling schedule.
(2) A copy of the polling Schedule shall be forwarded to each Provincial
Government and Local-level Government in the electorate and shall be exhibited at
such other places in the electorate as the Returning Officer appoints.
(3) A copy of the polling Schedule for an electorate shall be forwarded to each
candidate in the electorate.

115. ADHERENCE TO POLLING SCHEDULE.

(1) As far as possible, polling booths shall be open in accordance with the
polling schedule, and the Returning Officer and presiding officers shall take all such
action as is necessary or desirable for that purpose, whether expressly authorized by
this Law or not.
(2) Subject to any directions given by the Electoral Commission, the Returning
Officer may, where it becomes impracticable to adhere to a polling schedule, vary the
schedule, in which case the provisions of Section 114 shall, as far as practicable, be
observed in relation to the variation.
(3) Subject to any directions given by the Returning Officer, a presiding officer
may where in his opinion it is necessary or desirable in order to meet an unforeseen
contingency of emergency and it is impracticable for the Returning Officer to vary the
polling Schedule under Subsection (2), depart from the polling Schedule in relation to
a polling place, and shall advise the Returning Officer of the departure and of the
reasons for it as soon as practicable.

– 55 –
s. 116. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(4) Where the presiding officer departs from the polling Schedule in relation to
a polling place, he shall take such action as is practicable to ensure adequate
publicity for that departure at that polling place and amongst the electors likely to
vote at it.

116. APPEAL.
(1) An elector may, not less than 14 days before the commencement of the
polling period for an electorate, appeal to the Electoral Commission for an order
varying a polling Schedule on the ground that it does not give to all electors in the
electorate or in a part of the electorate a reasonable opportunity for voting in the
election.
(2) Notwithstanding an appeal under Subsection (1), but subject to Section
115, a polling Schedule remains valid and in force until varied by order of the
Electoral Commission under Subsection (1).
(3) In making an order under Subsection (1) the Electoral Commission shall
give such directions as it considers desirable and practicable to ensure adequate
publicity for the order.

117. ELECTION NOT OPEN TO CHALLENGE.

An election shall not be challenged on the ground of failure to observe a polling
Schedule or to comply with the provisions of Section 114, or of a variation or a
departure from a polling schedule.

Division 2.
General Provisions.

118. RETURNING OFFICER TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS.

(1) If, on the day of nomination, the proceedings stand adjourned to the
commencement of the polling, the Returning Officer shall immediately make all
necessary arrangements for taking the poll, and in particular shall–
(a) appoint a presiding officer to preside at each polling place and all
necessary assistant presiding officers, poll clerks, and door-keepers; and
(b) provide and furnish proper polling booths and ballot-boxes; and
(c) provide ballot-papers and all necessary certified lists of voters.
(2) The presiding officer shall, on or before the day of polling, determine the
whole or the part of the polling place that shall be the polling booth in relation to
that polling place.
(3) In an emergency during the polling due to the absence of an assistant
presiding officer, poll clerk or door-keeper, or to unforeseen and continued pressure
at the polling which cannot be met by the duly appointed electoral officers, the
presiding officer may appoint a person to act as assistant presiding officer, poll clerk

– 56 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 119.

or door-keeper, and the person so appointed or acting shall be deemed to have duly
been appointed if the Returning Officer afterwards ratifies the appointment.
(4) No person under the age of 18 years shall be appointed to be or to act as a
presiding officer or assistant presiding officer.
(5) An assistant presiding officer may, subject to any directions of the
presiding officer, exercise all or any of the powers of the presiding officer, and shall,
in respect of the exercise of those powers, be deemed to be the presiding officer.

119. SUBSTITUTE.
A presiding officer may appoint a person not under the age of 18 years to be
his substitute to perform his duties during his temporary absence, and the substitute
may, while so acting, exercise all the powers of the presiding officer and shall, in the
exercise of those powers, be deemed to be the presiding officer.

120. NO LICENSED PREMISES TO BE USED.

No part of any premises licensed, or the subject of a permit, under–
(a) the Liquor (Licensing) Act 1963; or
(b) a Provincial law relating to liquor licensing,
shall be used for the purpose of a polling booth.

121. SEPARATE VOTING COMPARTMENTS.

Polling booths shall have one or more separate voting compartments,
constructed so as to screen the voters from observation while they are marking their
ballot-papers, and each voting compartment shall be furnished with a pen for the use
of voters.

122. BALLOT-BOXES.
(1) Each polling booth shall be provided with the necessary ballot-box or ballot-
boxes.
(2) A ballot-box shall have a cleft in the cover through which the ballot-papers
may be deposited in the box, and shall be provided with means for securely closing
the cleft so that, when the cleft is so closed, no ballot-papers or other matters or
things can be deposited or placed in the box or withdrawn from it.
(3) A ballot-box shall be capable of being securely fastened with a lock.

123. CERTIFIED LIST OF VOTERS.

106(1)
The certified list of voters to be used by a presiding officer at a polling
place shall be the list of the electors on the Roll enrolled for the electorate for which

106
Section 123 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 33.
– 57 –
s. 124. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

the polling place is prescribed certified by the Returning Officer, and shall before the
hour of commencing the poll in the polling area be delivered to the presiding officer
for his guidance during the polling.
(2) The list of voters referred to in Subsection (1) may be provided in electronic
form instead of, or in addition to, a hard copy.

124. BALLOT-PAPERS.
107(1) Ballot-papers to be used in an election shall be in the prescribed form.
(2) ballot-paper shall have: –
(a) three spaces or boxes for a voter to indicate his preferences – 1, 2 and 3
– either by the prescribed candidate identification number or by
candidate name; and
(b) any other feature as the Electoral Commission determines is necessary
to be included.
(3) Regulations may make detailed provisions on the form, content and
manner of use of ballot-papers and on any other matters considered necessary.

125. CANDIDATE POSTERS.

108(1)The Electoral Commission shall make available at a polling place
candidate posters containing the prescribed particulars of candidates to be displayed
for voters to identify candidates for the purposes of marking their ballot-papers.
(2) Candidate posters to be used in an election shall be in the prescribed form.
(3) Regulations may make detailed provisions on the form, content and
manner of use of candidate posters and on any other matter considered necessary.
(4) With the approval of the Electoral Commission given in writing and subject
to such conditions as the Electoral Commission prescribes in writing (which may
include a fee), a candidate may print the candidate posters for his use in his election.

126. BALLOT-PAPERS TO BE INITIALLED.

(1) No ballot-paper shall be delivered to a voter without being first initialled or
affixed with an official mark as prescribed by the presiding officer, and an exact
account shall be kept of all initialled ballot-papers.
(2) The initials of the presiding officer shall be placed on the back of the ballot-
paper in such a position as to be easily seen when the ballot-paper is folded so as to
conceal the names of the candidates.

107
Section 124 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 33.
108
Section 125 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 33.
– 58 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 127.

127. SCRUTINEERS AT THE POLLING.

(1) Scrutineers may be appointed by candidates to represent them at polling
places during the polling, but so that not more than one scrutineer, other than
relieving scrutineers, shall be allowed to each candidate at each polling booth or
subdivision of a polling booth on any one day.
(2) Appointments of scrutineers shall be made by notice in writing or by
electronic advice addressed to the Returning Officer or presiding officer, and the
notice or electronic advice shall be signed by the candidate and shall give the name
and address of the scrutineer.

128. PROVISIONS RELATING TO SCRUTINEER.

(1) A scrutineer shall not–
(a) interfere with or attempt to influence an elector within the polling
booth; or
(b) communicate with a person in the polling booth except so far as is
necessary in the discharge of his functions; or
(c) enter a compartment of a polling booth whilst a voter is present in that
compartment.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K100.00.
(2) A scrutineer shall not be prevented from entering or leaving a polling booth
during the polling, and during his absence, a relieving scrutineer may act in his
place, but so that only one scrutineer for each candidate shall be present in the
polling booth or a subdivision of the polling booth at any one time.
(3) A scrutineer who commits a breach of this section, or who misconducts
himself or fails to obey the lawful directions of the presiding officer may be removed
from the polling booth by a member of the Police Force or by a person authorized by
the presiding officer to remove him.
(4) A scrutineer may not be used to assist any voter to vote under Section 140
or 143.

129. PERSONS PRESENT AT POLLING.

A candidate shall not in any way take part in the conduct of the polling, and
no person, other than the presiding officer, assistant presiding officers, officers, poll
clerks, interpreters, door-keepers and scrutineers, and the electors voting and about
to vote, shall enter or remain or be permitted to enter or remain in the polling booth
during the polling except by permission of, and on such conditions as are determined
by, the presiding officer.

130. THE POLLING.

(1) Subject to Subsections (2) and (3), the polling shall be conducted as
follows:–
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s. 131. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(a) before the first ballot-paper is placed in an empty ballot-box, the

Returning Officer or, if he is not present, the presiding officer, shall
exhibit the ballot-box empty, and shall then securely fasten its cover;
(b) the poll shall open at each polling place at 8 a.m. on each day (other
than a Sunday or a public holiday) during the period for taking the poll
at that polling place, and shall not close until all electors present in the
polling booth at 6 p.m. and desiring to vote, have voted;
(c) the doors of the polling booth shall be closed at 6 p.m. and no person
shall be admitted after that hour to the polling booth for the purpose of
voting;
(d) at the close of the polling on each day of the polling period at a polling
place, the presiding officer shall, in the presence of the poll clerk and of
any scrutineers who are in attendance, publicly close, fasten, lock and
take charge of the ballot-box;
(e) when a ballot-box is full or no longer required for the polling, or at the
end of the polling period for all polling places for which he is the
presiding officer, whichever first occurs, the presiding officer shall, with
the least possible delay, forward the ballot-box for the purposes of
scrutiny, and it shall on no account be opened except in accordance with
this Law.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in Subsection (1), where–
(a) the Returning Officer or the presiding officer considers it necessary the
polling may commence at any particular polling place at a time later
than 8 a.m. and, except on the last day of the polling period for the
electorate, may close at a time later than 6 p.m.; and
(b) the presiding officer considers that all electors entitled and likely to vote
at any particular polling place have done so, or the Returning Officer so
directs, the poll may close at that polling place at a time earlier than 6
p.m.
(3)109 [Repealed.]

131. ELECTIONS AT WHICH ELECTORS ARE ENTITLED TO VOTE.

(1)110 111Subject to this Section and Division 3, an elector shall only be
admitted to vote for the election of a member for the electorate for which he is
enrolled.
(2)112 113A candidate is entitled to vote in the electorate for which he is a
candidate whether or not his name is on the Roll for that electorate.

109
Section 130 Subsection (3) omitted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 34.
110
Section 131 Subsection (1) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 35.
111
Section 131 Subsection (1) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 35.
112
Section 131 Subsection (2) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 35.
113
Section 131 Subsection (2) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 35.
– 60 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 132.

(3) For the purposes of this section, the Rolls in force at the time of the election
are, subject to Subsection (2), evidence of the right of each person so enrolled to vote
at an election, unless he shows by his answer to a question prescribed by Section 134
that he is not entitled to vote.

132. WHERE ELECTORS MAY VOTE.

114(1)
Subject to this section, an elector is entitled to vote at any prescribed
polling place for the electorate for which he is enrolled while that polling place is
open.
(2) The Electoral Commission may, by notice in the National Gazette, require
an elector in an electorate or a part of an electorate to vote only in the part of the
electorate where his name appears on the Roll.
(3) Where a notice is given under Subsection (2), an elector shall vote only in
that part of the electorate where his name appears on the Roll.
(4) Nothing in this section authorizes an elector to vote more than once at an
election.

133. PERSONS CLAIMING TO VOTE TO GIVE NAME AND OTHER

PARTICULARS.
115(1) A person claiming to vote at a polling booth shall–
(a) state his full name or names; and
(b) if so directed by the presiding officer for the purpose of identifying him,
his finger or palm print is to be placed on the ballot-paper, electronic
pad or system or other material; and
(c) if so desired by the presiding officer for the purpose of identifying the
name under which the vote is claimed, give any other particulars
necessary to be stated in the Roll or to enable him to be identified in the
Roll.
(2) For the purposes of Subsection (1)(b), the Electoral Commission may
establish a finger, palm or other identification system, whether manually or
electronically, for the purposes of identifying a voter and his entitlement to vote and
to prevent multiple voting.
(3) Where the Electoral Commission establishes an identification system
referred to in Subsection (2), the manner and the way the system is established are
as prescribed.
(4) Regulations made under Subsection (3) shall ensure that the way a voter
votes is not immediately disclosed.

114
Section 132 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 36.
115
Section 133 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 36.
– 61 –
s. 133. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(5) The Electoral Commission may itself establish and administer the
identification system or it may authorize another person to do so and the same
provisions as those applying to identification systems relating to enrolment on a Roll
shall apply.
(6) Regulations may make detailed provisions for: –
(a) an identification system to be used may be administered and managed
by the Electoral Commission or by any other person; and
(b) the use of manual finger printing or electronic identification system to
verify entitlement to vote; and
(c) the Electoral Commission to use such system where it considers
necessary; and
(d) the discretion of the Electoral Commission to use any identification
system to the whole of the country, a part of the country, an electorate
or a part of any electorate; and
(e) where the Electoral Commission decides to use an identification system
only for electorates in a part of the country or for a part of an electorate,
notification is to be made in the National Gazette; and
(f) the systems to be used may include one or more of the following: –
(i) manual finger print system;
(ii) computer or electronic recorded and recognized finger print
system;
(iii) computer or electronic recorded and recognized palm print
system;
(iv) computer or electronic or other photographic system; and
(g) a voter may be required: –
(i) to put his finger print on the ballot-paper or any other document;
or
(ii) to place his finger on any instrument that records the print,
whether or not it checks the data base; or
(iii) a combination of Paragraphs (i) and (ii); or
(iv) a combination of Paragraphs (i) and (ii) with other features; or
(v) a combination of Paragraphs (i) or (ii) with other features; and
(h) where a finger print is required to be impressed on a ballot-paper
making it possible to establish or identify a person and the way the
person has voted:
(i) the finger print is to be checked only for the purposes of verifying
a vote and not to identify who the voter has voted; and

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 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 134.

(ii) any system used is to ensure that the system does not reveal to
any unauthorized person how a voter has voted,
and a breach of this provision is to incur penalty of a term
of imprisonment.

134. QUESTIONS TO BE PUT TO VOTER.

(1) Subject to this Law, the presiding officer–
(a) may, and at the request of a scrutineer shall, put to a person claiming to
vote the following questions:–
(i) “Have you already voted either here or elsewhere in this election
(or these elections, as the case requires)?”;
(ii) “Did you reside within this electorate for a period of more than
six months before your claim for enrolment?”;
(iii) “Are you at least 18 years of age?”;
(iv) “Are you a citizen of Papua New Guinea?”;
(v) “Are you qualified to vote?”; and
(b) may, and at the request of a scrutineer shall, also put to any person
claiming to vote, whose name appears on the certified list of voters the
following question:–
“Are you the person whose name appears as (here state
name) onthe certified list of voters for this electorate?”.

(2) If a person claiming to vote to whom any of the questions specified in

Subsection (1) are put–
(a) refuses to answer fully a question so put to him; and
(b) does not answer the question prescribed in Subsection (1)(a)(i)
absolutely in the negative, if so put to him; or
(c) does not answer the question prescribed in Subsection (1)(a)(ii)
absolutely in the affirmative when put to him; or
(d) does not answer a question specified in Subsection (1)(a)(iii), (iv), (v) or
(b) absolutely in the affirmative when put to him,
his claim to vote shall be rejected unless he is a candidate for election for that
electorate.
(3)116 117Where a person claiming to vote refuses to give a finger or palm print
or fails to pass a finger print or the prescribed palm identification system, his claim
to vote shall be rejected.

116
Section 134 Subsection (3) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 37.
117
Section 134 Subsection (3) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 37.
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s. 135. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

135. CERTAIN ERRORS NOT TO FORFEIT VOTE.

No error or omission in the Roll for an electorate of part of a name or entry of a
wrong name, address or occupation and no mistake in the spelling of a name
warrants the rejection of a claim to vote, and no person shall be disqualified from
voting under the name appearing on the Roll because of a change of name.

136. RIGHT OF ELECTOR TO RECEIVE BALLOT-PAPER.

(1) The presiding officer or a poll clerk shall, at the polling, hand to each
person claiming to vote a ballot-paper duly initialled or affixed with an official mark
as prescribed by the presiding officer–
(a) if the name under which he claims to vote is on the certified list of
voters for the polling place and his right to vote is not challenged; or
(b) if the name under which he claims to vote is on the certified list of
voters for the polling place and his right to vote is challenged, and his
answers to the prescribed questions show that he is entitled to vote; or
(ba)118 if he passes the identification system established under Section 134; or
(c) if he claims to vote under Division 3 and complies with the provisions of
that Division.
(2) The presiding officer, at the request of a scrutineer, shall note any objection
by the scrutineer to the right of a person to vote, and shall keep a record of that
objection.
(3) If the presiding officer puts to a person all or any of the prescribed
questions, his right to vote shall be deemed to have been challenged.

137. LIST OF VOTERS TO BE MARKED ON ISSUE OF BALLOT-PAPER.

Immediately upon handing the ballot-paper to a person claiming to vote, the
presiding officer or a poll clerk shall place a mark against the person’s name on the
certified list of voters.

138. VOTES TO BE MARKED IN PRIVATE.

119Except as otherwise prescribed, a voter upon receipt of a ballot-paper shall
without delay–
(a) retire alone to some unoccupied compartment of the booth, and in there,
in private, mark votes for three candidates in order of preference or,
where there are less than three candidates for each candidates in order
of preference on the ballot-paper in the prescribed manner; and
(b) fold the ballot-paper so as to conceal his votes and to show clearly the
initials of the presiding officer or the affixed mark and exhibit it so

118
Section 136 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 38.
119
Section 138 Substituted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 13.
– 64 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 139.

folded to the presiding officer, and then openly, and without unfolding
it, deposit it in the ballot-box; and
(c) quit the booth.

139. METHOD OF MARKING BALLOT-PAPER.

120(1) Subject to this Law, an elector shall record his votes on his ballot-
paper: –
(a) where there are three or more candidates: –
(i) by placing in the three square brackets on the ballot-paper, in the
order of preference from 1, 2 and 3, the identification numbers
appearing beside the name of the candidate on the candidate
poster; or
(ii) by writing in the three line spaces on the ballot-paper the names
of the candidates in the order of preference from 1, 2 and 3; or
(b) where there are two candidates: –
(i) by placing in the first two of the square brackets on the ballot-
paper, in the order of preference of 1 and 2, the identification
numbers appearing beside the name of the candidate on the
candidate poster; or
(ii) by writing in the first two line spaces on the ballot-paper the
names of the candidates in the order of preference of 1 and 2.
(2) Where a voter inserts the name of a candidate on a ballot-paper, the
misspelling of the name shall not render a vote informal if the intention of the voter
is clear.
(3) Where a voter completes on the ballot-paper both the identification number
of a candidate in a square box and states the name of the candidate in a line space, if
there is inconsistency between the two as to who the voter intended to vote, the
preference indicated by the name shall be accepted as valid and not the identification
number.

140. ASSISTANCE TO CERTAIN VOTERS.

(1) If a voter satisfies the presiding officer that–
(a) his sight is impaired; or
(b) that he is so physically incapacitated that he is unable to vote without
assistance; or
(c) that he is so illiterate that he is unable to vote without assistance,

120
Section 139 Substituted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 13; Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 39.
– 65 –
s. 141. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

the presiding officer shall permit such number of persons appointed by the voter to
enter an unoccupied compartment of the booth with the voter, and mark, fold and
deposit the voter’s ballot-paper for him.
(1A)121 122A voter may present to a Presiding Officer or other polling officer a
list indicating the candidates the voter wants to vote for and upon receipt of such a
list and in the presence of another polling official, the Presiding Officer or polling
officer shall read to the voter the candidates named on the list and confirm if the
voter wishes to mark votes for these candidates and in the order of preference so
indicated and only after this can the Presiding Officer or other polling officer
complete a ballot paper for the voter in accordance with the voters instructions.
(2) A person appointed under Subsection (1) to assist a voter shall restrain
from disclosing any knowledge of the vote of the voter.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K400.00 or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding three months.

Division 3.
Special Provisions in Certain Cases.

141. VOTER CLAIMING TO VOTE WHOSE NAME ON ROLL HAS BEEN

MARKED.
(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Law, where a voter, against whose name
on the certified list of voters used at a polling place prescribed for the electorate for
which he is enrolled a mark has been placed in accordance with Section 137, claims
to vote in an election at that polling place he may, subject to Sections 52 and 134 and
to the Regulations be permitted to vote.
(2) The ballot-paper of a voter voting under this Section shall be dealt with as
prescribed.

142. PERSON CLAIMING TO VOTE WHOSE NAME IS NOTED AS PERSON

TO WHOM POSTAL VOTE CERTIFICATE, ETC., ISSUED.
(1) Where a person whose name has been noted on the certified list of voters
used at a polling place prescribed for the electorate for which he is enrolled as an
elector to whom a postal vote certificate and postal ballot-paper have been issued,
claims to vote in an election at that polling place and states, when requested to
deliver to the presiding officer for cancellation his postal vote certificate and postal
ballot-paper, that he has not received a postal vote certificate and postal ballot-paper,
he may, subject to this Law, be permitted to vote, if he makes a declaration in the
prescribed form before the presiding officer at the polling place.
(2) The ballot-paper of a voter voting under this Section shall be dealt with as
prescribed, but no such ballot-paper shall be scrutinized unless the Returning Officer

121
Section 140 Subsection (1A) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 40.
122
Section 140 Subsection (1A) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 40.
– 66 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 143.

is satisfied that the voter is entitled to vote in the election, and that a postal vote
certificate or postal ballot-paper has not been received by him.

143. BLIND OR PHYSICALLY INCAPACITATED VOTERS.

(1) If a voter who claims to vote under Section 141 or 142 satisfies the
presiding officer that his sight is so impaired or that he is so physically incapacitated
that he is unable to vote without assistance, the presiding officer shall–
(a) fill in the form of declaration with the required particulars relating to
the enrolment of the voter as required by the voter; and
(b) read over to the voter the form of declaration; and
(c) require the voter to sign the form of declaration–
(i) in his own handwriting if he is able to do so; or
(ii) with his mark as his personal signature if he is unable to sign his
name in his own handwriting; and
(d) cause the signature of the voter, if made by means of a mark, to be
witnessed by a scrutineer present, or if no scrutineer be present, by the
poll clerk; and
(e) complete and attest the declaration; and
(f) permit such number of persons appointed by the voter to enter an
unoccupied compartment of the booth with the voter and to mark and
fold the ballot-paper for the voter; and
(g) enclose the ballot-paper in the envelope bearing the declaration of the
voter, securely fasten the envelope and deposit it in the ballot-box.
(2) If a voter to whom Subsection (1) applies fails to appoint a person under
that subsection, the presiding officer shall take action in accordance with Subsection
(1)(a) to (e) (inclusive) and shall, in the presence of a person appointed by the voter
for the purpose if the voter so desires, or, in the absence of any such appointment, the
poll clerk–
(a) mark and fold the ballot-paper for the voter; and
(b) enclose the ballot-paper in the envelope bearing the declaration of the
voter, securely fasten the envelope and deposit it in the ballot-box.

144. DEALING WITH VOTERS, ETC., UNDER THIS DIVISION.

(1) The presiding officer shall, upon receiving a ballot-paper from a person
voting under this Division, in the presence of the voter and of such scrutineers as are
present and without unfolding the ballot-paper, enclose it in an envelope bearing the
declaration of the voter under Section 143, and addressed to the Returning Officer,
and shall securely fasten the envelope and deposit it in the ballot-box.

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s. 145. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(2) An Assistant Returning Officer who is authorized under this Law to open
the ballot-box shall, without opening the envelope, transmit it to the Returning
Officer.
(3) Where the claim of a person to vote under this Division is refused, the
presiding officer shall make a note in writing of the fact of the claim and the reasons
for the refusal, and the presiding officer and a poll clerk shall sign a note in the
presence of such scrutineers as are present, who may also sign the note.

Division 4.
Miscellaneous.

145. SPOILT BALLOT-PAPERS.

If a voter, before depositing his ballot-paper in the ballot-box, satisfies the
presiding officer that he has spoilt the ballot-paper by mistake or accident, he may,
on giving it up, receive a new ballot-paper from the presiding officer, who shall there
and then cancel the spoilt ballot-paper, write the word “Spoilt” across the face of it,
place it in an endorsed envelope and forward it to the Returning Officer after the
polling.

146. ADJOURNMENT OF POLLING ON ACCOUNT OF RIOT.

(1) The presiding officer may adjourn the polling from day to day where the
polling is interrupted or obstructed by riot or open violence.
(2)123 124If from any cause a polling booth at a polling place is not open on any
day during the period for taking the poll at that polling place, the presiding officer
may adjourn the polling for a period not exceeding seven days and shall forthwith
give public notice of the adjournment.
(3) Where for any reason the polling is adjourned at a polling place, those
electors only–
(a) who are enrolled for the electorate for which the polling place is
prescribed; or
(b) who are otherwise entitled to vote as electors for the electorate,
and have not already voted, are entitled to vote at the adjourned polling at that
polling place.
(4) Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to affect the provisions of Division
1.

123
Section 146 Subsection (2) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 41.
124
Section 146 Subsection (2) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 41.
– 68 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 147.

PART XIV. – THE SCRUTINY.

Division 1.
Preliminary.

147. SCRUTINY.
The result of the polling shall be ascertained by scrutiny.

148. COUNTING CENTRES.

125(1)
The scrutiny shall be conducted at such places, to be known as “counting
centres”, as are appointed by the Returning Officer for the purpose.
(2) The counting centre shall be within the electorate where the election was
held.
(3) Where circumstances make it difficult for the counting centre to be located
within the electorate, the Returning Officer may appoint a place outside the
electorate to be the counting centre.

149. OFFICERS TO CONDUCT SCRUTINY.

The scrutiny at a counting centre shall be conducted by the Returning Officer
or, in the absence of the Returning Officer from that counting centre, by an Assistant
Returning Officer.

150. SCRUTINEERS AT SCRUTINY.

(1) A candidate may appoint one or more scrutineers to represent him at the
scrutiny, but only one such scrutineer for each candidate may be present in the
counting centre at any one time during the scrutiny.
(2) The appointment of a scrutineer under this Section to represent a
candidate at a counting centre–
(a) shall be made by notice in writing signed by the candidate, or by
electronic advice signed by the candidate before it is tendered for
transmission, given or sent to the officer who is to conduct, or who is
sent to the officer who is to conduct, or who is conducting, the scrutiny
at the counting centre; and
(b) shall specify the name and address of the scrutineer.

151. CONDUCT OF SCRUTINY.

The scrutiny shall be conducted as follows:–
(a) it shall commence as soon as voting in the electorate is completed;

125
Section 148 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 42.
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s. 152. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(b) any scrutineers duly appointed under Section 150 and any persons
approved by the officer conducting the scrutiny, may be present;
(c) all the proceedings at the scrutiny shall be open to the inspection of the
scrutineers;
(d) the scrutiny may be adjourned from time to time as necessary until the
counting of the votes is complete.

152. ACTION ON OBJECTIONS TO BALLOT-PAPERS.

(1) If a scrutineer objects to a ballot-paper as being informal, the officer
conducting the scrutiny shall mark the ballot-paper “Admitted” or “Rejected”,
according to his decision to admit or reject the ballot-paper.
(2) Nothing in this Section prevents the officer conducting the scrutiny from
rejecting a ballot-paper as being informal although it is not objected to.

153. INFORMAL BALLOT-PAPERS.

126(1)
Subject to this section, and to Divisions 3 and 4 and the Regulations, a
ballot-paper is informal where: –
(a) it is not authenticated by the initials of the presiding officer or by an
official mark as prescribed; or
(b) subject to Subsections (2) and (3), it has no vote indicated on it or it does
not have the voter’s first preference for one candidate and his contingent
votes for two other candidates or where there are less than two other
candidates, for the remaining candidate; or
(c) subject to Subsection (4), it has on it any mark or writing (not
authorized by this Law or Regulations made under this Law to be put
on it) by which, and on the face of the ballot-paper alone, in the opinion
of the officer conducting the scrutiny, the voter can be identified.
(2) Where there are two candidates only and the voter has indicated his vote
by inserting the identification numbers or the name of one candidate for the first
preference and left the other two squares and lines blank, the voter shall be deemed
to have indicated the order of his preference for both candidates.
(3) Where there are three candidates only and the voter has indicated his vote
by inserting the identification numbers and/or the names of two candidates for the
first and second preferences, and the square and line for the third preference has
been left blank, the voter’s preference shall be deemed to have indicated his
preferences for all candidates.
(4) Subsection (1)(c) does not apply to a mark or writing placed on a ballot-
paper by an officer, notwithstanding that the placing of the mark or writing on the
ballot-paper is a contravention of this section.

126
Section 153 Substituted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 14; Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 43.
– 70 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 153A.

(5) Subject to Divisions 3 and 4, a ballot-paper shall not be informal for any
reason other than a reason specified in this section.

153A. EXCLUDING BALLOT-BOX FROM SCRUTINY.

127(1)
Subject to this section, a Returning Officer may refuse to admit to
scrutiny a ballot-box containing marked ballot-papers where he is of the opinion
that: –
(a) the ballot-papers in it were not lawfully casted; or
(b) the ballot-box was tampered with and the integrity of the ballot-papers
in it were compromised.
(2) Where objection is taken to a ballot-box being admitted to scrutiny by a
scrutineer or by a polling officer who polled with the ballot-box, the Returning Officer
may require the objection and the grounds of the objection to be reduced into writing
and may require any responses from a scrutineer to be in writing and for the relevant
President Officer and other polling officers as are available at the scrutiny to
comment on the objections and the responses given before making a decision on such
objection.
(3) A ballot-box that is damaged but its contents have not been disturbed is not
to be rejected for the reason of the damage.
(4) A decision of a Returning Officer under this section may not be challenged
other than by way of petition.

Division 2.
Provisions relating to the Scrutiny of Ordinary Votes.

154. SCRUTINY OF ORDINARY VOTES IN ELECTIONS.

(1)128 129In an election the scrutiny shall, subject to the provisions of Divisions
3 and 4 and Regulations be conducted in accordance with the succeeding provisions
of this section.
(2) The electoral officer conducting the scrutiny shall, in the presence of a
presiding officer, poll clerk or an officer and of such authorized scrutineers as choose
to attend and any other person approved by the Returning Officer–
(a) open all ballot-boxes received from polling places within the electorate;
and
(b)130 reject all informal ballot-papers, and arrange the unrejected ballot-
papers under the names of the respective candidates by placing in a
separate parcel all those on which a first preference vote is indicated for
the same candidate; and

127
Section 153A Inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 43.
128
Section 154 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 44.
129
Section 154 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 44.
130
Section 154 Subsection (2) amended by No. 28 of 2002, s. 15.
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s. 155. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(c)131 count the first preference votes given for each candidate on all
unrejected ballot-papers; and
(d)132 make out and sign a statement (which may be counter-signed by the
presiding officer, poll clerk or officer present and, if they so desire, by
such scrutineers as are present) setting out the number of first
preference votes given for each candidate, and the number of informal
ballot-papers; and
(e) place in a separate parcel all the ballot-papers which have been rejected
as informal; and
(f) where an Assistant Returning Officer conducts the scrutiny, transmit
the following information, by electronic advice or in some other
expeditious manner, to the Returning Officer:–
(i)133 the number of first preference votes given for each candidate;
(ii) the total number of ballot-papers rejected as informal; and
(g) seal up the parcels and endorse on each parcel a description of the
contents of it, and permit any scrutineers present, if they so desire, to
counter-sign the endorsement; and
(h) where an Assistant Returning Officer conducts the scrutiny, transmit
the parcels to the Returning Officer with the least possible delay,
together with the statement referred to in Paragraph (d).
(3)134 135The Regulations may provide for the counting of votes to be done
electronically following the opening of the ballot-boxes and after rejecting informal
ballot-papers and ballot-boxes not admitted to scrutiny.

Division 3.
Provisions Relating to the Scrutiny of Postal Votes.

155. SCRUTINY OF POSTAL VOTES.

The scrutiny of postal votes shall be conducted by the Returning Officer with
the assistance of an Assistant Returning Officer or an officer, in the presence of such
authorized scrutineers as chosen to attend and any other persons approved by the
Returning Officer.

156. PRELIMINARY SCRUTINY OF POSTAL VOTES.

(1) The Returning Officer conducting the scrutiny shall–

131
Section 154 Subsection (2) amended by No. 28 of 2002, s. 15.
132
Section 154 Subsection (2) amended by No. 28 of 2002, s. 15.
133
Section 154 Subsection (2) amended by No. 28 of 2002, s. 15.
134
Section 154 Subsection (3) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 44.
135
Section 154 Subsection (3) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 44.
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 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 156.

(a) subject to Subsection (2), as soon as practicable after the end of the
polling period for an electorate, produce and open the postal voters’
ballot-box in which the envelopes containing the voters’ ballot-papers
have been placed and produce unopened all envelopes containing postal
votes received by him before the end of the polling period; and
(b) examine each certificate and, if satisfied that–
(i) the person making the vote is an elector enrolled for the
electorate; and
(ii) the declaration purports to be witnessed by an authorized
witness,
accept the ballot-paper for further scrutiny, and place a mark against the name of
the elector on a certified copy of the Roll used by him for the purpose of the scrutiny,
but, if not so satisfied, disallow the ballot-paper without opening the envelope in
which it is contained; and
(c) place in one parcel the unopened envelopes bearing the duly signed and
attested declarations of those persons whose ballot-papers have been
accepted for further scrutiny; and
(d) place in another parcel the unopened envelopes bearing the declarations
of those persons whose ballot-papers he has disallowed, fasten and seal
the parcel, endorse on it the words “Postal voters’ ballot-papers rejected
at the preliminary scrutiny” and add the name of the electorate, his
signature and the date; and
(e) place the envelopes containing the ballot-papers which he has decided to
accept for further scrutiny before him on a table in such a manner that
the address side of each envelope is visible; and
(f) number each envelope consecutively from one upwards in the top right-
hand corner until all of the envelopes have been dealt with; and
(g) without further examining the certificate or declaration of any voter or
permitting any other person to do so, withdraw from the envelope each
ballot-paper contained in it, and, without inspecting or unfolding the
ballot-paper or allowing any other person to do so, place on it a number
corresponding with that placed on the envelope from which the ballot-
paper has been withdrawn and deposit the folded ballot-paper in a
locked ballot-box for further scrutiny; and
(h) place the envelopes in a parcel endorsed with the words “Envelopes
bearing postal voters’ declarations from which ballot-papers have been
withdrawn for further scrutiny”, fasten the parcel, and add the name of
the electorate, his signature and the date.
(2) The Returning Officer shall, as far as practicable, keep in the Postal Voters’
Ballot-box sufficient envelopes containing ballot-papers to ensure that all ballot-
papers, when counted, shall be taken from a number sufficient to prevent the
identity of voters from being disclosed.
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s. 157. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

157. FURTHER SCRUTINY OF POSTAL VOTES.

At the further scrutiny, the officer conducting the scrutiny shall, as soon as
practicable after the preliminary scrutiny under Section 156 open the ballot-box
referred to in Section 156(g), examine the postal voters’ ballot-papers contained in
the ballot-box, and take similar action to that set out in Section 154(2)(b), (c), (d), (e)
and (g).

158. MISTAKES.
A postal vote shall not be rejected as informal merely because, in the case of a
candidate, part only of his name has been written on it if there is no possibility of
confusion with some other candidate, or by reason of a mistake in spelling or
otherwise where there is no doubt as to the identity of the candidate and the elector’s
intention is clear.

Division 4.
Provisions relating to the Scrutiny of Votes under Division 3 of Part XIII.

159. CONDUCT OF SCRUTINY.

The scrutiny of votes under Division XIII.3 shall be conducted by the
Returning Officer and shall commence as soon as practicable after the end of the
polling period for an electorate in the presence of an Assistant Returning Officer or
an officer and such scrutineers as chosen to attend.

160. ACTION ON RECEIPT OF BALLOT-PAPERS UNDER DIVISION XIII.3.

The Returning Officer shall produce unopened all envelopes containing ballot-
papers used for voting under Division XIII.3 and shall, before opening an envelope or
allowing any other person to do so, examine the declaration of the voter and, if it is in
order and shall deal with the ballot-paper in accordance with this Division, and make
such correction (if any) to the Roll as is necessary.

161. PRELIMINARY SCRUTINY OF VOTES CAST UNDER DIVISION

XIII.3.
(1) The Returning Officer shall, in relation to envelopes containing ballot-
papers used for voting under Division XIII.3–
(a) place in one parcel the envelopes bearing the declarations of persons
who he is satisfied are entitled to vote in respect of the electorate, accept
for further scrutiny the ballot-papers contained in the envelopes and in
respect of envelopes under Sections 141 and 142, make a notation on a
certified copy of the Roll used by him for the purposes of the scrutiny
against the names of the persons voting that those persons have been
permitted to vote under Section 141 or 142, as the case may be; and
(b) place in another parcel the envelopes bearing the declarations of
persons who he is satisfied are not entitled to vote in respect of the
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 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 162.

electorate, or whose declarations are not signed and attested, fasten and
seal the parcel, endorse thereon the words “Division 3 voters’ ballot-
papers rejected at the preliminary scrutiny”, and add the name of the
electorate, his signature and the date; and
(c) place the envelopes containing the ballot-papers accepted for further
scrutiny before him on a table in such a manner that the face only of
each envelope bearing the address of the Returning Officer is visible;
and
(d) number each envelope consecutively from one upwards in the top right-
hand corner until all of the envelopes have been dealt with; and
(e) without further examining the declaration of a voter, or permitting any
other person to do so, withdraw from the envelope each ballot-paper
contained in it, and, without inspecting or unfolding the ballot-paper or
allowing any other person to do so, place on it a number corresponding
with that placed on the envelope from which the ballot-paper has been
withdrawn, and deposit the folded ballot-paper in a locked ballot-box for
further scrutiny; and
(f) place the envelopes in a parcel, endorsed with the words “Envelopes
bearing Division 3 voters declarations from which ballot-papers have
been withdrawn for further scrutiny”, fasten the parcel and add the
name of the electorate, his signature and the date.
(2) A Division 3 voter’s ballot-paper shall not be rejected at the preliminary
scrutiny by reason only of the fact that the presiding officer has omitted to attest the
declaration of the elector.

162. FURTHER SCRUTINY.

At the further scrutiny, the officer conducting the scrutiny shall, as soon as
practicable after the preliminary scrutiny under Section 161, open the ballot-box
referred to in Section 161(1)(e), examine the Division 3 voters’ ballot-papers
contained in the ballot-box, and take similar action to that set out in Section
154(2)(b) (c), (d), (e) and (g).

163. INFORMAL BALLOT-PAPERS.

In addition to the matters specified in Section 153, a Division 3 voter’s ballot-
paper is informal if it is not contained in an envelope bearing the declaration of the
elector.

164. PARCELLING OF BALLOT-PAPERS.

The officer conducting the scrutiny shall place in separate parcels–
(a) all Division 3 voters’ ballot-papers allowed or admitted as formal; and
(b) all Division 3 voters’ ballot-papers disallowed or rejected as informal,
and shall fasten and seal each parcel, and endorse on it particulars of
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s. 165. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

the contents of it and the name of the electorate, and add his signature
and the date.

165. OPENING OF SEALED PARCELS OF BALLOT-PAPERS.

The sealed parcels of Division 3 voters’ ballot-papers may only be opened–
(a) for the purposes of an authorized re-count; or
(b) by direction of the National Court.

166. OPENING OF SEALED PARCELS OF DECLARATIONS.

The sealed parcels of Division 3 voters’ declarations may only be opened–
(a) by direction of the National Court; or
(b) as provided in the Regulations.

167. PRESERVATION OF BALLOT-PAPERS AND DECLARATIONS.

Subject to any action referred to in Section 165 or 166, the Returning Officer
shall preserve the sealed parcels of–
(a) Division 3 voters’ ballot-papers allowed or admitted to the scrutiny; and
(b) Division 3 voters’ ballot-papers disallowed or rejected at the scrutiny;
and
(c) envelopes bearing Division 3 voters’ declarations from which ballot-
papers have been withdrawn for further scrutiny; and
(d) envelopes bearing Division 3 voters’ declarations and containing ballot-
papers rejected at the preliminary scrutiny,
until their destruction has been authorized by the Electoral Commission.

Division 5.
Mode of Determining the Result of the Scrutiny.

168. SCRUTINY OF VOTES IN ELECTIONS.

136(1)137 138Subject
to this section and the Regulations, the result of an election
shall be determined by scrutiny in the following manner:–
(a) the Returning Officer shall ascertain the total number of first
preference votes given for each candidate;
(b) the candidate who has received the largest number of first preference
votes, if that number be an absolute majority of votes, is elected;

136
Section 168 Substituted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 16.
137
Section 168 Subsection (1) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 45.
138
Section 168 Subsection (1) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 45.
– 76 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 168.

(c) if no candidate has received an absolute majority of votes, a second

count shall be held;
(d) on the second count the sealed parcels of ballot-papers shall be opened
by the Returning Officer, the candidate who has received the fewest
number of first preference votes shall be excluded and each ballot-paper
counted to him shall be counted to the candidate next in order of the
order of the voter’s preference;
(e) where a candidate then has an absolute majority of votes he shall be
deemed to be elected, but where no candidate then has an absolute
majority of votes the process of excluding the candidate who has the
fewest votes and counting each of the ballot-papers to the unexcluded
candidate next in order of the voter’s preference shall be repeated until
one candidate has received an absolute majority of votes;
(f) the candidate who has received an absolute majority if the votes is
elected;
(g) if, in any count, two or more candidates have an equal number of votes
and one of them has to be excluded, the candidate who received the
lowest number of votes in the immediately preceding count shall be
excluded and if the same candidates or some of them received the same
number of lowest votes in the immediately preceding count, the
candidate who received the lowest number of votes in the count
preceding the immediately preceding count shall be excluded and this
process shall continue as far back as is necessary;
(h) if, and only if, in the situation referred to under Paragraph (g), there is
no further preceding count to determine elimination of candidates on
equal votes, the candidate who is lowest on the candidate poster shall be
excluded;
(i) if, in the final count, two candidates have an equal number of votes, the
candidate who received the highest number of votes in the immediately
preceding count shall be elected and if the same two candidates received
the same number of votes in the immediately preceding count, the
candidate who received the highest number of votes in the count
preceding the immediately preceding count shall be elected and this
process shall continue as far back as is necessary;
(j) if, in the final count, in a situation referred to in paragraph (i), there is
no further preceding count to determine a candidate to be elected, the
candidate who is highest on the candidate poster shall be elected.
(2) Where on any count being conducted in accordance with Subsection (1)(d)
or (e), a ballot-paper shows no preference capable, in accordance with this Law, of
being counted, in that count, to an excluded candidate, that ballot-paper –
(a) shall be deemed to be exhausted; and
(b) shall be excluded from that count and on any subsequent count; and

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s. 169. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(c) shall not be taken into account in the calculation of an absolute majority
in relation to that count and any subsequent count.
(3)139 140The Regulations may provide for the scrutiny to be done electronically
under such electronic system as approved by the Electoral Commission but which
electronic system shall be programmed to follow the scrutiny rules in this section.
(4) In this section, “ an absolute majority of votes ”in relation to any count,
means a greater number than one-half of the whole number of ballot-papers (other
than informal ballot-papers and ballot-papers excluded from that count under
subsection (2)).

169. FURTHER PROVISIONS RELATING TO SCRUTINY.

The officer conducting the scrutiny shall, in respect of ballot-papers
scrutinized by him–
(a) place in a separate parcel all the ballot-papers which have been rejected
as informal; and
(b) place in a separate parcel the unrejected ballot-papers; and
(c) seal up the parcels and endorse on each parcel a description of its
contents, and permit any scrutineers present, if they so desire to
countersign the endorsement.

Division 6.
Re-count of Ballot-paper.

170. RE-COUNT.
(1)141 142Subject to Subsections (4) and (5), where on the final count, the
margin of votes between the candidate who polled the highest number of votes and
the candidate who polled the next highest number of votes does not exceed 0.25% of
the number of votes polled by the candidate who polled the highest number of votes,
the candidate who polled the next highest number of votes may, at any time before
the declaration of the result of the election, request the Returning Officer to re-count
the ballot-papers contained in a parcel.
(2) On receipt of a request under Subsection (1) the Returning Officer shall re-
count the ballot papers contained in the parcel.
(3) The officer conducting a re-count has the same powers as if the re-count
were the scrutiny, and may reverse any decision in relation to the scrutiny as to the
allowance and admission or disallowance and rejection of any ballot-paper.

139
Section 168 Subsection (3) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 45.
140
Section 168 Subsection (3) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 45.
141
Section 170 Subsection (1) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 46.
142
Section 170 Subsection (1) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 46.
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 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 171.

(4)143 144Where the scrutiny is conducted by the use of an electronic system, a

candidate may request and the Returning Officer shall, subject to compliance with
provisions of Subsection (5), count the votes without the electronic system.
(5)145 146The candidate demanding a recount shall be required to pay a deposit
of an amount of money that the Returning Officer estimates will be the cost of
conducting a recount and the candidate must pay the amount determined by the
Returning Officer and agree to cover further costs of the recount before a recount is
granted under Subsection (4).
(6)147 148If a recount conducted under Subsection (4) produces a result different
from the result produced by the electronic count, the Returning Officer shall refund
to the candidate the deposit paid but if the result remains the same, the deposit shall
be forfeited to cover the expenses of the recount, and, if any excess cost is not covered
by the recount, the Electoral Commission shall claim the excess from the candidate
who demanded the recount as a debt but if there is a balance remaining in the
deposit after deducting the cost of recount, the balance shall be paid to the candidate.

171. RESERVATION OF DISPUTED BALLOT-PAPERS.

(1) The officer conducting a re-count may, and at the request of a scrutineer
shall, reserve any ballot-paper for the decision of the Electoral Commission.
(2) The Electoral Commission shall decide whether a ballot-paper reserved for
its decision under this Section is to be allowed and admitted or disallowed and
rejected.
(3) In the event of the validity of the election being disputed, the National
Court may consider any ballot-papers which were reserved for the decision of the
Electoral Commission, but shall not order a further re-count of the whole or part of
the ballot-papers in connection with the election unless it is satisfied that the re-
count is justified.

172. CONDUCT OF RE-COUNT.

(1) Before proceeding to re-count any ballot-papers, the Returning Officer shall
send to each candidate notice of the time and place of the re-count.
(2) The Returning Officer shall, at the time and place fixed for the re-count, in
the presence of the scrutineer or scrutineers in attendance and of an officer, open
every sealed parcel of ballot-papers to be re-counted and count the votes in it.
(3) Each parcel of ballot-papers to be re-counted shall be opened separately
without destroying or rendering illegible any endorsement on the parcel, and every

143
Section 170 Subsection (4) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 46.
144
Section 170 Subsection (4) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 46.
145
Section 170 Subsection (5) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 46.
146
Section 170 Subsection (5) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 46.
147
Section 170 Subsection (6) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 46.
148
Section 170 Subsection (6) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 46.
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s. 172. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

care shall be taken to prevent the ballot-papers in the parcel from being mixed with
the ballot-papers in any other parcel.
(4) After a parcel has been opened and the votes in it counted, the Returning
Officer shall replace the ballot-papers in their original cover, which he shall reseal,
refasten and then place in a new cover which he shall also seal and fasten and
endorse with the fact and date of the re-count, and the Returning Officer and such
persons authorized to be present at the re-count as chosen to do so shall sign the
endorsement.
(5) When any ballot-papers at a re-count are reserved for the decision of the
Electoral Commission, the Returning Officer shall, in the presence of the scrutineer
or scrutineers in attendance, place the ballot-papers in a properly fastened and
sealed parcel bearing his signature and the signature or signatures of the scrutineer
or scrutineers, together with an endorsement setting out the number of ballot-papers
contained in the parcel, the name of the electorate and the date, and shall place the
parcel in a fastened and sealed outer cover fully addressed to the Electoral
Commission, and transport the parcel to it by hand or registered post.
(6) On receipt of the parcel, the Electoral Commission shall, in the presence of
an officer and, if a candidate so desires, of a person appointed by the candidate, open
the parcel and scrutinize the ballot-papers, and shall mark each ballot-paper
“Admitted” or “Rejected”, according to its decision to admit or reject the ballot-paper.
(7) When the Electoral Commission has given its decision on the ballot-papers
reserved for its decision, it shall restore them to their original cover, refasten and
reseal the cover and endorse on it–
(a) the number of ballot-papers contained in the cover; and
(b) a statement that the ballot-papers have been the subject of decision by
it; and
(c) the signature of the Electoral Commissioner and the date,
and shall request the persons in whose presence it scrutinized the ballot-papers to
add their signatures, and shall then place the parcel in a new cover, which it shall
cause to be fastened, sealed and returned by hand or registered post to the Returning
Officer.
(8) The Electoral Commission shall advise the Returning Officer, in writing, as
to the number of ballot-papers admitted or rejected by it, and the decision of the
Electoral Commission shall be accepted by the Returning Officer in completing his
re-count of the ballot-papers.
(9) The receipt of every parcel of ballot-papers shall be acknowledged in
writing by the Electoral Commission and the Returning Officer respectively.

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 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 173.

PART XV. – INTERPRETERS.

173. INTERPRETERS.
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Law, for the purposes of, and at any
stage of, the proceedings at the polling or at the scrutiny, a person may, with the
approval of the presiding officer or the officer conducting the scrutiny, as the case
requires, make use of the services of a person as an interpreter.
(2) A candidate shall not be an interpreter, and a scrutineer shall not be an
interpreter except for another scrutineer.

174. DUTY OF INTERPRETERS.

(1) An interpreter referred to in Section 173 shall–
(a) to the best of his ability, correctly interpret any matter which he is
required to interpret; and
(b) comply with any directions given by the presiding officer of the officer
conducting the scrutiny, as the case may be; and
(c) refrain from disclosing any knowledge of the vote of an elector for or to
whom he interprets.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00 or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding six months, or both.
(2) An interpreter shall not influence, or attempt to influence, in any way, the
vote of an elector for or to whom he interprets.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K1,000.00 or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding six months, or both.

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s. 175. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

PART XVI. – THE RETURN OF THE WRITS.

175. RETURN OF WRITS.

(1)149 150Subject to this section, the Returning Officer or the Electoral
Commission shall, as soon as conveniently may be after the result of an election has
been ascertained–
(a) at the place of nomination or any other place appointed by the
Returning Officer, publicly declare the result of the election and the
name of the candidate elected; and
(b) by endorsement under his hand certify on the writ the name of the
candidate elected, and return the writ through the Electoral
Commission to the Head of State who shall then forward all the writs to
the Speaker of the Parliament.
(1A)151 152Where the Electoral Commission has directed the Returning Officer
not to declare a result: –
(a) unless the direction is withdrawn, the Returning Officer shall not
declare a result and any result declared in contravention of a direction
is invalid; and
(b) in special circumstances, the Electoral Commission may declare the
result based on information concerning scrutiny and other information
provided by the Returning Officer or an Assistant Returning Officer.
(2) Where the Returning Officer cannot complete his inquiries into the facts set
out in the declarations received by him under Section 141 or 142, without unduly
delaying the declaration of the poll, and he is satisfied that the votes recorded on the
ballot-papers could not possibly affect the result of the election, he may, subject to
the concurrence of the Electoral Commission, declare the result of the election and
return the writ without awaiting the receipt of the ballot-papers or the completion of
inquiries, as the case may be.

176. CORRECTION OF ERRORS.

Any delay, error or omission in the printing, preparation, issue, transmission
or return of any Roll, writ, ballot-paper or certified list of voters may be remedied,
removed, rectified and supplied by the Electoral Commission by notice published in
the National Gazette, specifying the matter dealt with and providing for the course to
be followed, and that course shall be valid and sufficient.

149
Section 175 Subsection (1) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 47.
150
Section 175 Subsection (1) substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 47.
151
Section 175 Subsection (1A) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 47.
152
Section 175 Subsection (1A) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 47.
– 82 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 177.

177. EXTENSION OF TIME.

153(1)
Notwithstanding any provisions of this Law but subject to this section,
the Head of State, acting with, and in accordance with, the advice of the Electoral
Commission, may, where special circumstances require and he is of the opinion that
it is necessary to do so, extend such time as is necessary: –
(a) for holding the election; or
(b) for taking of nominations; or
(c) for polling; or
(d) for returning the writ,
and provision so made shall be valid and sufficient.
(2) In exercising the powers under this section to extend time, the Electoral
Commission shall endeavor to ensure that the majority of the writs in a general
election are returned at least five days before the anniversary of the term of the
current Parliament.
(3) In the case of an extension of time under Subsection (1), public notice of the
extension shall be immediately given in the electorate or the portion of the electorate
for which the election is to be held.

153
Section 177 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 48.
– 83 –
s. 178. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

PART XVII. – OFFENCES.

178. ILLEGAL PRACTICES.

(1) Subject to Subsection (2), the following are illegal practices at elections:–
(a) publishing an electoral advertisement, handbill or pamphlet or issuing
an electoral notice (other than the announcement by advertisement in a
newspaper of the holding of a meeting) without the name and address of
the person authorizing the publication or issue being printed at the foot
of it;
(b) printing or publishing a printed electoral advertisement, handbill or
pamphlet (other than an advertisement in a newspaper) without the
name and place of business of the printer being printed at the foot of it;
(c) printing, publishing or distributing an electoral advertisement, notice,
handbill, pamphlet or card containing a representation of a ballot-paper
or a representation apparently intended to represent a ballot-paper, and
having on it any directions intended or likely to mislead or improperly
interfere with an elector in or in relation to the casting of his vote;
(d) printing, publishing or distributing an electoral advertisement, notice,
handbill, pamphlet or card containing an untrue or incorrect statement
intended or likely to mislead or improperly interfere with an elector in
or in relation to the casting of his vote;
(e)154 wilfully informing an elector during the polling period that he is not
enrolled or entitled to be enrolled for a particular electorate, or is not
entitled to vote, when as a fact he is enrolled or entitled to be enrolled,
or is enrolled or entitled to be enrolled for that electorate, or is entitled
to vote, as the case may be;
(f)155 obstructs, damages or interferes with a public street or road with the
intention to interfere with the conduct of an election; and
(g)156 assaulting or threatening to assault a Returning Officer, Assistant
Returning Officer, Presiding Officer, other polling officer or police officer
assisting in an election; and
(h)157 inciting or encouraging, whether publicly or otherwise, disturbances to
interfere in an election.
(2) Nothing in Subsection (1)(c) or (d) prevents the printing, publishing or
distributing of a card not otherwise illegal, which contains instructions on how to
vote for a particular candidate, so long as those instructions are not intended or
likely to mislead an elector in or in relation to the casting of his vote.

154
Section 178 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 49.
155
Section 178 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 49.
156
Section 178 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 49.
157
Section 178 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 49.
– 84 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 179.

(3) A person guilty of an illegal practice is liable to a penalty of a fine not

exceeding K1,000.00 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months.
(4)158 159The Electoral Commission may prosecute an offence referred to in: –
(a) Sections 178, 191 and 195; and
(b) subject to the approval of the Public Prosecutor, Sections 99, 100, 102,
103, 108 and 110 of the Criminal Code Act (Chapter 262).

179. HEADING TO ELECTORAL ADVERTISEMENT.

(1) The proprietor of a newspaper shall cause the work “advertisement” to be
printed as a headline, in letters not smaller than 10 point or long primer, to each
article or paragraph in his newspaper containing electoral matter, the insertion of
which is or is to be paid for or for which a reward or compensation or promise of
reward or compensation is or is to be made.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.
(2) In Subsection (1), “electoral matter” includes all matter intended or
calculated to affect the result of the election, and a report of the speech of a candidate
if the report is or is to be paid for.

180. ARTICLES TO BE SIGNED.

(1) On and after the date of issue and before the return of a writ for the
election of a member, every article, report, letter or other matter commenting upon a
candidate or political party, printed and published in a newspaper, circular,
pamphlet or dodger shall be signed by the author, giving his true name and address
at the end of the article report, letter or other matter, or where part only of the
article, report, letter or matter appears in any issue of a newspaper, circular,
pamphlet or dodger at the end of that part.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.
(2) A newspaper editor or proprietor who permits, in a newspaper which he
edits or owns, the publication of an unsigned article, report, letter or other matter
commenting upon a candidate or political party, after the issue and before the return
of any writ for the election of a member, is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.
(3) This section does not apply to the publication in a newspaper of–
(a) a leading article; or
(b) an article which consists solely of a report of a meeting and does not
contain any comment (other than comment made by a speaker at the
meeting) upon a candidate or political party.

158
Section 178 Subsection (4) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 49.
159
Section 178 Subsection (4) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 49.
– 85 –
s. 181. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

181. MATTER BROADCAST.

(1) On and after the date of issue and before the return of a writ for the
election of a member, a person who broadcasts or permits to be broadcast, from a
broadcasting station an announcement, statement or other matter commenting upon
a candidate or political party is, unless that announcement, statement or other
matter includes the true name and address of the author of it, guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.
(2) Where an announcement, statement or other matter is broadcast in
contravention of Subsection (1), the person who supplied the announcement,
statement or other matter to the broadcasting station for broadcasting is, unless he
proves that the true name and address of the author were included in the
announcement, statement or other matter so supplied, guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.
(3) This section does not apply to the inclusion in a summary of news of a
report of a meeting which contains no comment (other than comment made by a
speaker at the meeting) upon a candidate or political party.
(4) For the purposes of this section, “broadcasting station” means a station
broadcasting messages by means of wireless telegraphy.

182. DISPLAY OF CERTAIN ELECTORAL POSTERS PROHIBITED.

(1) Subject to this section, a person who writes, draws or depicts electoral
matters directly on a roadway, footpath, building, vehicle, vessel, hoarding or place
(whether it is or is not a public place or in a public place, and whether on land or
water or in the air), is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.
(2) The application of Subsection (1) extends in relation to an election although
the writ for that election has not been issued.
(3) Nothing in this section prohibits–
(a) the posting up, exhibiting, writing, drawing or depicting of a sign or at
the office or committee room of a candidate or political party indicating
only that the office or room is the office or committee room of the
candidate or party, and specifying the name of the candidate or the
name of the party concerned; or
(b) the projection, by means of a cinematograph or other similar apparatus,
of electoral matter on to a screen in a public theatre, hall or premises
used for public entertainment.
(4) In this section–
“electoral matter” means any matter intended or calculated to affect the
result of an election;

– 86 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 183.

“electoral poster” means any material whatsoever on which electoral matter

is written, drawn or depicted.

183. REMOVAL OF PROHIBITED ELECTORAL POSTERS.

(1) A member of the Police Force may, and shall, if so directed by the Electoral
Commission or by a Returning Officer–
(a) remove an electoral poster which appears to have been posted up or to
be exhibited in contravention of Section 182; or
(b) obliterate electoral matter which appears to have been written, drawn
or depicted in contravention of Section 182.
(2) A person shall not obstruct or hinder a member of the Police Force in the
exercise or attempted exercise of any power or in the discharge or attempted
discharge of any duty, conferred or imposed upon him under this section.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.

184. LOUD-HAILERS, ETC.

(1) Subject to Subsection (2), a person, who uses a loud-hailer, megaphone or
other similar device during the polling period, is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K600.00.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a police officer or electoral officer who uses
a loud-hailer, megaphone or other similar device for the purposes of maintaining
order or giving instructions.

185. INJUNCTIONS.
For the purpose of ensuring compliance with Section 182, the National Court
may, upon the application of an officer, grant an injunction–
(a) restraining an apprehended contravention of that section; or
(b) directing the removal of an electoral poster posted up or exhibited in
contravention of that section, or the obliteration of electoral matter
written, drawn or depicted in contravention of that section,
and may make an order incidental or supplementary to an order under this section,
including an order as to costs.

186. CARDS IN POLLING BOOTHS.

(1) A person who exhibits or leaves in a polling booth a card or paper having on
it a direction or instruction as to how an elector should vote or as to the method of
voting is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K300.00.

– 87 –
s. 187. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(2) This section does not apply to official instructions exhibited by electoral
officers at the direction of the Electoral Commission at a polling booth.

187. UNTRUE STATEMENT IN ELECTORAL PAPERS, ETC.

(1) A person who makes an untrue statement in an electoral paper, or in
answer to a question under this Law or in information supplied to an officer for the
purposes of the preparation, maintenance or revision of a Roll is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K300.00.
(2) In Subsection (1), “electoral paper” includes a prescribed form.

188. SIGNATURE TO ELECTORAL PAPER.

(1) Every electoral paper which by this Law has to be signed by a person shall
be signed by that person with his personal signature and in the case of the Electoral
Commission by the personal signature of the Electoral Commissioner.
(2) Where a person who is unable to sign his name in writing makes his mark
as his signature to an electoral paper, the mark shall be deemed to be his personal
signature, if it is identifiable as such and is made in the presence of a witness who
signs the electoral paper as a witness to the signature.
(3) A person who makes the signature of any other person on an electoral
paper is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.
(4) In this section, “electoral paper” includes a prescribed form.

189. WITNESSING ELECTORAL PAPERS.

(1) A person who–
(a) signs his name as witness on a blank electoral paper; or
(b) signs his name as witness on an electoral paper which has been wholly
or partly filled in unless it has been signed by the person intended to
sign it; or
(c) signs his name as witness on an electoral paper unless he has seen the
persons whose signature he purports to witness sign it; or
(d) writes on an electoral paper as his own name–
(i) the name of another person; or
(ii) any name not being his own name;
is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.
(2) In Subsection (1), “electoral paper” includes a prescribed form.

– 88 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 190.

190. MAKING MARKS ON BALLOT-PAPERS.

Except where expressly authorized by or under this Law, a person, other than
the elector to whom the ballot-paper has been lawfully issued, who makes a mark or
writing on the ballot-paper of an elector is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.

191. ELECTORAL OFFENCES.

The matters specified in Column 1 of the table in this section are electoral
offences punishable in accordance with the provision in Column 2 of that table
opposite the statement of the offence in Column 1.
TABLE OF ELECTORAL OFFCENCES AND PUNISHMENTS.
No Column 1 Column 2
s. Offences Punishments
1. Voting more than once at the same K400.00 or imprisonment
election for three months.
2. Wagering on the result of an election K400.00.
3. Wilfully defacing, mutilating, destroying K20.00.
or removing a notice, list or other
document affixed by a Returning Officer or
by his authority
4. Knowingly making a false statement in a Imprisonment for two
claim, application, return or declaration, years.
or in answer to a question under this Law
5. Any contravention of this Law for which K500.00.
no other punishment is provided
6. Falsely personating a person to secure a Imprisonment for two
ballot-paper to which the personator is not years.
entitled, or personating any other person
for the purposes of voting
7. Fraudulently destroying or defacing a Imprisonment for two
nomination paper or ballot-paper years.
8. Fraudulently putting a ballot-paper or Imprisonment for six
other paper into a ballot-box months.
9. Fraudulently taking a ballot-paper out of Imprisonment for six
a polling booth months.
10. Taking a ballot-paper out of a polling K500.00.
booth

– 89 –
s. 192. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

11. Forging, or uttering knowing it to be Imprisonment for two

forged, a nomination paper or ballot-paper years.
12. In a polling booth during the polling, K200.00 or imprisonment
misconducting himself, or failing to obey for one month.
the lawful directions of the presiding
officer
13. Supplying ballot-papers without authority Imprisonment for six
months.
14. Unlawfully destroying, taking, opening, or Imprisonment for six
otherwise interfering with ballot-boxes or months.
ballot-papers

192. PROHIBITION OF CANVASSING NEAR POLLING BOOTH.

(1) The following acts are, during the polling period and on all days to which
the polling is adjourned, prohibited at an entrance of or within a polling booth, or
within 7m of an entrance of a polling booth:–
(a) canvassing for votes;
(b) soliciting the vote of an elector;
(c) inducing an elector not to vote for a particular candidate;
(d) inducing an elector not to vote at the election;
(e) exhibiting a notice or sign (other than an official notice) relating to the
election.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.
(2) Where–
(a) a building used as a polling booth is situated in grounds within an
enclosure; and
(b) the presiding officer at the polling booth causes to be displayed
throughout the polling period at each entrance to those grounds a notice
signed by him stating that those grounds are part of the polling booth,
those grounds shall, for the purposes of Subsection (1), be deemed to be part of a
polling booth.

193. BADGES OR EMBLEMS IN POLLING BOOTHS.

An officer or scrutineer who wears or displays in a polling booth during the
polling period a badge or emblem of a candidate or political party is guilty of an
offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.

– 90 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 194.

194. FAILURE TO TRANSMIT CLAIMS.

A person who accepts a claim for enrolment or transfer of enrolment for
transmission to a Returning Officer shall forthwith transmit the claim to the
Returning Officer.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.

195. FORGING OR UTTERING ELECTORAL PAPERS.

(1) A person who–
(a) forges an electoral paper; or
(b) utters a forged electoral paper, knowing it to be forged,
is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: Imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
(2) In Subsection (1), “electoral paper” includes a prescribed form.

196. EMPLOYERS TO ALLOW EMPLOYEES LEAVE OF ABSENCE TO

VOTE.
(1) If an employee who is an elector notifies his employer that he desires leave
of absence to enable him to vote at an election, the employer shall, if the absence
desired is necessary to enable the employee to vote at the election, allow him leave of
absence without any penalty or disproportionate deduction of pay for such reasonable
period as is necessary to enable the employee to vote at the election.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.
(2) An employee who obtains leave of absence under this section under
pretence that he intended to vote at the election but without the bona fide intention
of doing so, is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.
(3) This section does not apply to an elector whose absence may cause danger
or substantial loss in respect of the employment in which he is engaged.

197. PROTECTION OF THE OFFICIAL MARK.

(1) A person who, without lawful authority, the burden of proof of which lies
upon him–
(a) makes an official mark on or in a paper; or
(b) has in his possession a paper bearing an official mark; or
(c) makes use of or has in his possession an instrument capable of making
on or in a paper an official mark,
is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.
– 91 –
s. 198. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(2) A person who, without lawful authority, the burden of proof of which lies
upon him, makes on or in a ballot-paper, or on or in a paper purporting to be a ballot-
paper, an official mark, shall be deemed to have forged a ballot-paper and is
punishable accordingly.
(3) All paper bearing an official mark, and all instruments capable of making
on or in paper an official mark, made or used by, or in the possession of, a person
without lawful authority (the burden of proof of which authority lies upon him) is
forfeited to Papua New Guinea, and may without warrant be seized by any member
of the Police Force and destroyed or dealt with as prescribed.
(4) In this section, “official mark” means a prescribed mark to be placed or
made on or in an electoral paper, and includes a mark so nearly resembling an
official mark as to be likely to deceive.

198. DISORDERLY BEHAVIOUR AT MEETING.

(1) This section applies to any lawful public political meeting held in relation
to an election between the date of the issue of the writ for the election and the date of
the return of the writ.
(2) A person who, at a public meeting to which this section applies, acts in a
disorderly manner for the purpose of preventing the transaction of the business for
which the meeting is held is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00 or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding two months.
(3) The Chairman of a public meeting to which this section applies may direct
any member of the Police Force to remove from the room, building or place in which
the meeting is being held a person who, in the opinion of the Chairman, is preventing
the transaction of the business for which the meeting is held, and thereupon the
member of the Police Force may take such steps as are necessary for the removal of
the person from the room, building or place.
(4) A person–
(a) who has been removed from a room or building in accordance with a
direction given under Subsection (3); or
(b) whose removal from a room, building or place has been directed under
Subsection (3) and who has left that room, building or place,
and who, without the authority of the Chairman (proof of which authority lies upon
that person) returns to that room or building while the meeting is in progress, is
guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00 or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding two months.
(5) A member of the Police Force may arrest without warrant a person who
commits an offence against Subsection (4).

– 92 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 199.

199. NEGLECT TO INITIAL BALLOT-PAPER, ETC.

An officer who, contrary to his duty, fails to initial a ballot-paper or affix as
official mark as prescribed, correctly to mark a certified list of voters, or properly to
attest a declaration is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00.

200. OFFENDER MAY BE REMOVED FROM POLLING BOOTH.

(1) A person who, in a polling booth during the polling, misconducts himself, or
fails to obey the lawful direction of the presiding officer, may be removed from the
polling booth by a member of the Police Force or by a person authorized by the
presiding officer.
(2) A person who has been removed from a polling booth by direction of the
presiding officer under Subsection (1) and who re-enters the polling booth without
the permission of the presiding officer is guilty of a further electoral offence,
punishable on conviction by twice the penalty prescribed by Section 191 for the
original offence.

201. DEFAMATION OF CANDIDATE.

(1) Subject to Subsection (2), a person shall not make or publish a false and
defamatory statement in relation to the personal character or conduct of a candidate.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K1,000.00 or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding six months.
(2) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against Subsection (1), if the
defendant proves that he has had reasonable ground for believing and did in fact
believe the statement made or published by him to be true.
(3) A person who makes a false and defamatory statement in relation to the
personal character or conduct of a candidate in contravention of this section may be
restrained by injunction, at the suit of the candidate aggrieved, from repeating the
statement or any similar false and defamatory statement.

202. PUBLICATION OF MATTER REGARDING CANDIDATES.

(1) Subject to this section, if, in any matter announced or published by a
person, or caused by a person to be announced or published, on behalf of an
association, league, organization or other body of persons, it is, without the authority
of the candidate (the burden of proof of which authority lies upon that person)–
(a) claimed or suggested that a candidate in an election is associated with,
or supports the policy or activities of, that association, league,
organization or other body of persons; or
(b) expressly or impliedly advocated or suggested that candidate is the
candidate for which a vote should be given,
that person is guilty of an offence.
– 93 –
s. 203. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00 or imprisonment for a term not

exceeding three months.
(2) Where any matter, the announcement or publication of which by a person
without the written authority of a candidate would be an offence against Subsection
(1) on the part of that person, is announced or published by or on behalf of, or with
the support of, an association, league, organization or other body of persons, every
person who was an officer of that association, league, organization or body at the
time of that announcement or publication shall be deemed to be guilty of an offence
against that subsection.
(3) For the purposes of this section, where any matter purports expressly or
impliedly to be announced or published by or on behalf of, or in the interests or with
the support of, an association, league, organization or other body of persons the
matter shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be deemed to be announced or
published by or on behalf of, or with the support of, as the case may be, that
association, league, organization or other body of persons.
(4) Nothing in the preceding provisions of this section applies to or in relation
to an announcement or publication made or authorized by a bona fide political party
or by a bona fide branch of a political party respecting a candidate who, by public
announcement, has declared his candidature to be a candidature on behalf of or in
the interests of that party.

203. VOTING IN AN ELECTORATE WHEN QUALIFIED TO ENROL IN

ANOTHER ELECTORATE.
A person who is enrolled in respect of an electorate and votes at an election in
that electorate knowing that at some time after the date he was enrolled for that
electorate and before the date of the issue of the writ for an election in that electorate
he became qualified to enrol in, or to transfer his enrolment to, another electorate is
guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K1,000.00 or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding six months.

204. LIABILITY FOR INDIRECT ACTS.

Every person is liable for an illegal practice or an offence against this Part
committed directly or indirectly by himself, or by any other person on his behalf and
with his knowledge or authority.

205. APPLICATION OF CRIMINAL CODE.

Nothing in this Law shall derogate or be deemed to derogate the provisions of
the Criminal Code, but a person is not liable to be prosecuted or punished both under
this Law and under the Criminal Code for the same offence.

– 94 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 206.

PART XVIII. – DISPUTED ELECTIONS, RETURNS, ETC.

Division 1.
Disputed Elections and Returns.

206. METHOD OF DISPUTING RETURNS.

The validity of an election or return may be disputed by petition addressed to
the National Court and not otherwise.

207. JURISDICTION OF NATIONAL COURT EXERCISABLE BY SINGLE

JUDGE.
The jurisdiction of the National Court in relation to any matter under this
Part may be exercised by a single Judge.

208. REQUISITES OF PETITION.

A petition shall–
(a) set out the facts relied on to invalidate the election or return; and
(b) specify the relief to which the petitioner claims to be entitled; and
(c) be signed by a candidate at the election in dispute or by a person who
was qualified to vote at the election; and
(d) be attested by two witnesses whose occupations and addresses are
stated; and
(e) be filed in the Registry of the National Court at Port Moresby or at the
court house in any Provincial headquarters within 40 days after the
declaration of the result of the election in accordance with Section
175(1)(a).

209. DEPOSIT AS SECURITY FOR COSTS.

160Atthe time of filing the petition the petitioner shall deposit with the
Registrar of the National Court the sum of K5,000.00 as security for costs.

210. NO PROCEEDINGS UNLESS REQUISITES COMPLIED WITH.

Proceedings shall not be heard on a petition unless the requirements of
Sections 208 and 209 are complied with.

211. RIGHT OF RETURNING OFFICER TO BE REPRESENTED.

The Electoral Commission may, by leave of the National Court, enter an
appearance in any proceedings in which the validity of an election or return is

160
Section 209 Amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 50.
– 95 –
s. 212. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

disputed, and be represented and heard in the proceedings, and in that case shall be
deemed to be a party respondent to the petition.

212. POWERS OF COURT.

(1) In relation to any matter under this part the National Court shall sit as an
open court and may, amongst other things–
(a) adjourn; and
(b) compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents;
and
(c) grant to a party to a petition leave to inspect, in the presence of a
prescribed officer, the Rolls and other documents (except ballot-papers)
used at or in connection with an election and take, in the presence of the
prescribed officer, extracts from those Rolls and documents; and
(d) order a re-count of ballot-papers in an electorate; and
(e) examine witnesses on oath; and
(f) declare that a person who was returned as elected was not duly elected;
and
(g) declare a candidate duly elected who was not returned as elected; and
(h) declare an election absolutely void; and
(i) dismiss or uphold a petition in whole or in part; and
(j) award costs; and
(k) punish contempt of its authority by fine or imprisonment.
(2) The Judges of the National Court may make rules of court with respect to
pre-trial conferences and procedures relating to procedures under this Part.
(3) The Court may exercise all or any of its powers under this section on such
grounds as the Court in its discretion thinks just and sufficient.
(4) Without limiting the powers conferred by this section, the power of the
Court to declare that a person who was returned as elected was not duly elected, or
to declare an election absolutely void, may be exercised on the ground that illegal
practices were committed in connection with the election.

213. PRODUCTION OF POSTAL VOTE CERTIFICATE, ETC.

(1) Without limiting the powers conferred by Section 212–
(a) when it is proved that a ballot-paper issued under Section 100, 141, 142
or 143 has, in an election, been marked by a person who was not
entitled to vote at the election, the Court may require the production of–
(i) the postal vote certificate delivered to or posted to that person; or

– 96 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 214.

(ii) any other papers or documents relating to the ballot-papers

issued under those sections,
as the case may be; and

(b) the Court may reject a ballot-paper.

(2) The production from proper custody of a ballot-paper purporting to have
been used in an election and bearing an official number, and of a postal vote
certificate or other papers or documents referred to in Subsection (1)(a)(ii) an official
number corresponding to the official number on the ballot-paper, is prima facie
evidence that the person who marked the ballot-paper was the person to whom the
postal vote certificate was delivered or posted or who made the declaration, as the
case may be.
(3) In Subsection (2), “official number” means a number purporting to have
been placed on the ballot-paper or postal vote certificate, as the case may be, under
this Law.

214. INQUIRIES BY COURT.

The National Court shall inquire whether or not the petition is duly signed,
and so far as Rolls and voting are concerned may inquire into the identity of persons
and whether their votes were improperly admitted or rejected, assuming the Roll to
be correct, but the Court shall not inquire into the correctness of a Roll.

215. VOIDING ELECTION FOR ILLEGAL PRACTICES.

(1) If the National Court finds that a candidate has committed or has
attempted to commit bribery or undue influence, his election, if he is a successful
candidate, shall be declared void.
(2) A finding by the National Court under Subsection (1) does not bar or
prejudice a prosecution for an illegal practice.
(3) The National Court shall not declare that a person returned as elected was
not duly elected. or declare an election void–
(a) on the ground of an illegal practice committed by a person other than
the candidate and without the candidate’s knowledge or authority; or
(b) on the ground of an illegal practice other than bribery or undue
influence or attempted bribery or undue influence,
unless the Court is satisfied that the result of the election was likely to be affected,
and that it is just that the candidate should be declared not to be duly elected or that
the election should be declared void.

– 97 –
s. 216. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

216. COURT TO REPORT, ETC., CASES OF OFFENCES.

161Where the National Court, in the trial of a Petition under this Part, finds
that a person has committed an offence under this Law or any other law, the
Registrar of the court shall promptly –
(a) report the finding to –
(i) the Speaker; and
(ii) the electoral Commission; and
(iii) the Public Prosecutor; and
(iv) the Commissioner of Police; and
(b) forward all papers relevant to the finding to the Commissioner of Police.

217. REAL JUSTICE TO BE OBSERVED.

The National Court shall be guided by the substantial merits and good
conscience of each case without regard to legal forms or technicalities, or whether the
evidence before it is in accordance with the law of evidence or not.

218. IMMATERIAL ERRORS NOT TO VITIATE ELECTION.

(1) Subject to Subsection (2), an election shall not be avoided on account of a
delay in the declaration of nominations, the polling, the declaration of the poll or the
return of the writ, or on account of the absence or an error of, or an omission by, an
officer which did not affect the result of the election.
(2) Where an elector was, on account of the absence or an error of, or an
omission by, an officer, prevented from voting in an election, the National Court shall
not for the purpose of determining whether the absence or error of, or the omission
by, the officer did or did not affect the result of the election, admit evidence of the
way in which the elector intended to vote in the election.

219. EVIDENCE THAT PERSON NOT PERMITTED TO VOTE.

On the trial of a petition, the National Court shall not admit the evidence of a
witness that he was not permitted to vote in an election during the hours of polling in
the polling period unless the witness satisfied the Court–
(a) that he claimed to vote in the election, under that provision of this Law
under which he was entitled or might be permitted to vote; and
(b) that he complied with the requirements of this Law relating to voting by
electors in so far as he was permitted to do so.

161
Section 216 Substituted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 17.
– 98 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 220.

220. DECISION TO BE FINAL.

A decision of the National Court is final and conclusive and without appeal,
and shall not be questioned in any way.

221. COPIES OF PETITION AND ORDER OF COURT TO BE SENT TO THE

PARLIAMENT.
The Registrar of the National Court shall promptly after the filing of a petition
forward to the Clerk of the Parliament a copy of the petition, and after the trial of the
petition shall promptly forward to the Clerk a copy of the order of the Court.

222. COUNSEL OR SOLICITOR.

(1) A party to a petition shall not, except by consent of all parties or by leave of
the National Court, be represented by counsel or solicitor.
(2) In no case shall more than one counsel appear on behalf of a party.

223. COSTS.
The National Court may award costs against an unsuccessful party to a
petition.

224. DEPOSITS APPLICABLE FOR COSTS.

If costs are awarded to a party against the petitioner, the deposit lodged under
Section 209 is applicable in payment of the sum ordered, but otherwise the deposit
shall be paid to the petitioner.

225. OTHER COSTS.

All other costs awarded by the National Court, including any balance above
the deposit payable by the petitioner, are recoverable as if the order of the Court
were a judgement of the National Court, and the order, certified by the Court, may be
entered as a judgement of the National Court and enforced accordingly.

226. EFFECT OF DECISION.

Effect shall be given to a decision of the National Court as follows:–
(a) if a person returned is declared not to have been duly elected, he shall
cease to be a member;
(b) if a person not returned is declared to have been duly elected, he may
take his seat accordingly;
(c) if an election is declared absolutely void a new election shall be held.

227. DEFINITION OF “PETITION”.

In this Division, “petition” means a petition disputing an election or return.
– 99 –
s. 228. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

Division 2.
Qualifications and Vacancies.

228. REFERENCE OF QUESTION OF QUALIFICATION OR VACANCY.

A question respecting the qualifications of a member or respecting a vacancy
in the Parliament may be referred by resolution to the National Court by the
Parliament and the Court shall thereupon have jurisdiction to hear and determine
the question.

229. SPEAKER TO STATE CASE.

When a question is referred to the National Court under this Division, the
Speaker shall transmit to the Court a statement of the question upon which the
determination of the Court is desired, together with any proceedings, papers, reports
or documents relating to the question in the possession of the Parliament.

230. PARTIES TO THE REFERENCE.

The National Court may allow a person who, in the opinion of the Court, is
interested in the determination of a question referred to it under this Division to be
heard on the hearing of the reference, or may direct notice of the reference to be
served on a person, and a person so allowed to be heard or so directed to be served
shall be deemed to be a party to the reference.

231. POWERS OF COURTS.

On the hearing of a reference under this Division, the National Court shall sit
as an open court and has the powers conferred by Section 212 so far as they are
applicable, and in addition has power–
(a) to declare that a person was not qualified to be a member; and
(b) to declare that a person was not capable of being chosen or of sitting as
a member; and
(c) to declare that there is a vacancy in the Parliament.

232. ORDER TO BE SENT TO THE PARLIAMENT.

After the hearing and determination of a reference under this Division, the
Registrar of the National Court shall promptly forward to the Clerk of the
Parliament and the Electoral Commissioner a copy of the order or declaration of the
National Court.

233. APPLICATION OF CERTAIN SECTIONS.

The provisions of Sections 217, 218, 219, 220, 221 and 222 apply so far as they
are applicable, to proceedings on a reference to the National Court under this
Division.

– 100 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 234.

PART XIX. – LOCAL-LEVEL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS.

Division 1.
Preliminary.

234. APPLICATION OF THIS PART.

(1) Subject to Part XXII, this Part applies to and in relation to elections of
members of Local-level Governments.
(2) The Head of State, acting on advice, may determine that the heads of
Local-level Governments be directly elected by electors, and where such a
determination is made–
(a) the election of heads of Local-level Governments shall be in accordance
with this Part subject to such modification as is prescribed or as is
required in the circumstances; and
(b) where an election for a member of a Local-level Government and an
election for the head of that Local-level Government are held
simultaneously an elector may vote in respect of each election.

235. INTERPRETATION.
(1) In this Part, unless the contrary intention appears–
“approved form” means a form approved under Section 240;
“Assistant Returning Officer” means an officer provided under Section 237;
“ballot-box” means a box
(a) capable of being securely fastened with a lock; and
(b) having a cleft in the cover through which the ballot-papers may
be deposited in the box and provided with means for securely
closing the cleft so that, when the cleft is so closed, no ballot-
papers or other matters or things can be deposited or placed in
the box or withdrawn from it;
“ballot-paper” means a ballot-paper in accordance with this Law;
“candidate” means a candidate in an election;
“election petition” means a petition under Division 14.;
“elector” means a person whose name appears on a roll and who is entitled to
vote at the election in question;
“illegal practice” means an illegal practice specified in Division 13, and
includes an offence under the Criminal Code;
“interpreter” means a person in respect of whom approval is given under
Division 11.;

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s. 236. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

“Local-level Government” means a Local-level Government established in

accordance with Sections 26 and 27 of the Organic Law on Provincial
Governments and Local-level Governments;
“official mark” means a mark authorized by the Returning Officer;
“polling booth” means a polling booth designated under Part IV.;
“Presiding Officer” means a Presiding Officer appointed under Section 238;
“the Returning Officer”, in relation to a Local-level Government, means the
Returning Officer provided for that Local-level Government under
Section 236;
“roll” means a roll of electors compiled under Division 3;
162“ward” means the electorate for an elected member of a Local-level
Government;
“writ” means a writ for an election issued under Section 271 and 272.
(2) Where under this Part, another Part of this Law is applied to and in
relation to Local-level Government elections, words used in that other Part and
defined in Subsection (1) shall have the meaning given to them in Subsection (1).

Division 2.
Administration.

236. RETURNING OFFICERS.

The Returning Officer, appointed under this Law for an open electorate, shall
be the Returning Officer for Local-level Governments within that open electorate.

237. ASSISTANT RETURNING OFFICERS.

(1) The Assistant Returning Officer appointed under this Law for an open
electorate shall be the Assistant Returning Officer for Local-level Governments
within that open electorate.
(2) An Assistant Returning Officer may, subject to the control of the Returning
Officer, exercise the powers and perform the duties of the Returning Officer.

238. PRESIDING OFFICERS, ETC.

(1) The Returning Officer may appoint one or more persons as Presiding
Officers to assist, subject to the control of the Returning Officer, in the conduct of
polling at an election.
(2) The Presiding officer may assist the Returning Officer in the scrutiny and
counting of votes at the election.

162
Section 235 Subsection (1) amended by No. 28 of 2002, s. 18.
– 102 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 239.

(3) The Returning Officer may appoint one or more persons as Poll Clerks to
assist, subject to the control of the Returning Officer, in the conduct of the polling.

239. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.

A person appointed under this Part shall–
(a) make such declarations as the Electoral Commissioner requires; and
(b) comply with any directions given by the Electoral Commissioner under
his power of supervision under Section 19 of this Law.

240. APPROVED FORMS.

The Electoral Commissioner may, by instrument, approve forms for the
purposes of this Regulation.

241. AVAILABILITY OF FORMS.

A Returning Officer shall–
(a) keep available copies of approved forms required by members of the
public for the purposes of this Regulation; and
(b) without fee, supply them as required; and
(c) assist the public in their proper use.

Division 3.
Electoral Rolls.

242. ROLLS.
163(1)
The Roll in use for an open electorate for elections to the Parliament
shall be used for elections to Local-level Governments within that open electorate.
(2) Notwithstanding any provisions in this Part, where a Roll for an open
electorate is prepared in parts that conform to a Ward or other Local-level
Government electorate, a Roll so prepared and kept for such open electorate is
sufficient and may be used for an election to a Local-level Government.

243. FORM OF ROLLS.

(1) A Roll shall be in such form as is determined by the Electoral Commission,
and shall set out the name, address and occupation (or other prescribed particulars)
and sex of each elector, and shall contain such further particulars as are prescribed
or as the Electoral Commission directs.
(2) A direction under Subsection (1) may relate to the whole or a part of the
country.

163
Section 242 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 51.
– 103 –
s. 244. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

244. NEW ROLLS.

(1) All persons who are entitled to be enrolled on a Roll shall, subject to this
Law, be so enrolled.
(2) New Rolls for any wards shall be prepared whenever the Electoral
Commission, by notice published in the Local-level Government Gazette, directs.
(3) Subject to Subsection (4), a notice under Subsection (2) may specify the
manner in which the Rolls shall be prepared, and may require any person, or
member of a class of persons, entitled to enrolment on a new Roll and whose name
does not appear on it to sign and send to the proper officer a form of claim for
enrolment and otherwise to comply with the provisions of this Law relating to
compulsory enrolment.
(4) Notwithstanding anything in Subsection (3), where an elector is enrolled in
respect of an address in a ward for which he is entitled to be enrolled, he shall not be
required to sign and send in any further claim for enrolment in connection with the
preparation of a new Roll under this section.
(5) The Electoral Commission shall, as soon as it is practicable to do so after
the preparation of new Rolls, by notice published in the Local-level Government
Gazette, notify that the new Rolls have been prepared.

245. ADDITIONS, ETC., TO NEW ROLLS.

Upon the receipt by the Returning Officer of a new Roll for a ward, the
Returning Officer shall–
(a) make additions, alterations and corrections in it; and
(b) remove names from it,
in accordance with information received by him between the date of the notice
directing the preparation of new Rolls and the date of the notification that the Rolls
have been prepared, where the additions, alterations or corrections have not already
been made in, or the removals have not been made from, the Roll.

246. OBJECTIONS AND NOTICES TO HAVE EFFECT IN RELATION TO

NEW ROLLS.
Where objections have been lodged or notices of objection have been issued and
action in respect of those objections or notices has not been completed before the
notification of the preparation of new Rolls, the objections or notices have effect in
relation to the new Rolls as if those Rolls had been in existence at the time of the
lodging of the objections or the issuing of the notice.

247. PRINTING OF ROLLS.

(1) Rolls shall be printed whenever the Electoral Commission so directs.

– 104 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 248.

(2) Supplemental Rolls, setting out additions since the latest print of the Rolls,
may, as necessary, be prepared and printed immediately after the issue of the writs
for an election, and at such other times as the Electoral Commission directs.

248. INSPECTION.
(1) Copies of the latest print of the electorate Roll and of all supplemental
prints shall be open for public inspection at the office of the Returning Officer at all
convenient times during his ordinary office hours without fee, and at such other
places as the Returning Officer appoints for the purpose.
(2) Copies of the latest print of the electorate Roll and of all supplemental
prints shall be obtainable at the office of the Returning Officer on payment of the
prescribed fee.

249. OFFICERS AND OTHERS TO FURNISH INFORMATION.

All officers and all occupiers of habitations and all persons who are, or appear
to be, entitled to enrolment shall upon application furnish to the Electoral
Commission or to a Returning Officer, or to an electoral officer acting under the
directions of the Electoral Commission or the Returning Officer, all information that
it or he requires in connection with the preparation, maintenance or revision of the
Rolls.

Division 4.
Qualifications and Disqualifications for Enrolment and for Voting.

250. PERSONS ENTITLED TO ENROLMENT.

(1) All persons who have a right to vote under Section 50 (right to vote and
stand for public office) of the Constitution who comply with the requirements of
Division 5 for enrolment for a ward are entitled to enrolment.
(2) All persons whose names are on the Roll for a ward shall, subject to this
Law and to the provisions of any other law in force, vote at elections of a member for
the ward but no person is entitled to vote more than once at an election or at more
than one election held at the same time.

Division 5.
Enrolment.

251. OFFICERS.
(1) The Electoral commission may appoint persons to assist in the compilation
and revision of the Rolls.
(2) A person appointed under Subsection (1) has such functions and duties as
are prescribed or as the Electoral Commission directs.

– 105 –
s. 252. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

252. ADDITION OF NAMES TO ROLLS.

In addition to any other method provided for by law, names may be added to
Rolls in accordance with claims for enrolment or transfer of enrolment.

253. CLAIMS FOR ENROLMENT.

(1) Subject to this section and to Section 250, a person who–
(a) has resided in the area of a ward for a period of not less than six month
immediately preceding the date of his claim for enrolment; or
(b) is nominated for a ward for which he is not enrolled and was either born
in the ward or lived in the ward for five years at any time,
is entitled to have his name placed on the Roll for that ward.
(2) Where the name of a person is placed on a Roll in accordance with
Subsection (1)(a), he shall be enrolled in respect of the address of his last residence in
the ward.
(3) Where the name of a person is placed on a Roll in accordance with
Subsection (1)(b), he shall be enrolled in respect of his last-known place of residence
in the ward.
(3) The Electoral Commission may, in relation to a person or class of persons,
direct that a claim for enrolment be in the prescribed form and, if in the prescribed
form, shall be signed by the claimant and attested by a prescribed person who shall
sign his name as witness in his own handwriting.

254. WITNESS TO APPLICATION MUST SATISFY HIMSELF OF TRUTH

OF STATEMENT.
A person witnessing a claim for enrolment or transfer of enrolment shall,
before he affixes his signature to it, satisfy himself, by inquiry from the claimant or
otherwise, that the statements contained in the claim are true, unless he knows that
the statements contained in the claim are true.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K400.00.

255. COMPULSORY ENROLMENT AND TRANSFER.

(1) A person who is entitled to have his name placed on the Roll for a ward,
whether by way of enrolment or transfer of enrolment, and whose name is not on
that Roll shall, at the first reasonably practicable opportunity, make a claim in the
prescribed form to the Returning Officer for that ward.
(2) A person who is entitled to have his name placed on the Roll for a ward,
whether by way of enrolment or transfer of enrolment, and whose name is not on
that Roll on the expiration of 21 days from the date on which he became so entitled,
is guilty of an offence unless he proves that his non-enrolment is not in consequence
of his failure to comply with the provisions of Subsection (1).

– 106 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 256.

(3) It is a defence to a charge of an offence against Subsection (2) if the

defendant shows that he did not know, and had no reasonable opportunity of
knowing, that his name was not on a Roll for which he was entitled to be enrolled.
(4) A person who is enrolled for the ward in which he is residing and who
changes his place of residence from one address in the ward to another address in
that ward, and who has failed to notify, in the prescribed form, the new address to
the Returning Officer for that electorate at the first reasonably practicable
opportunity, is guilty of an offence.
(5) A person who is guilty of an offence against this section is punishable, upon
conviction–
(a) in the case of a first offence–by a fine not exceeding K10.00; or
(b) in other any case–by a fine not exceeding K25.00.
(6) A prosecution for an offence against this section shall not be instituted
without the consent of the Election Commission.

256. REGISTRATION OF CLAIM.

(1) Upon receipt of a claim for enrolment or transfer of enrolment, notification
of change of address within a ward, or application for the alteration or correction of
particulars of an existing enrolment, the Returning Officer shall note the date of its
receipt by him, and if the claim, notification or application is in order and he is
satisfied that the claimant is entitled to be enrolled or to have his name transferred
or the particulars of his enrolment altered or corrected, as the case may be, the
Returning Officer shall, subject to Section 258–
(a) enter on the Roll kept by him the name of the claimant and the
particulars relating to him; and
(b) notify the claimant in writing that he has been enrolled; and
(c) in the case of a transfer of enrolment, give notice of the transfer to the
Returning Officer keeping the Roll from which the elector’s name has
been transferred.
(2) An interim acknowledgement of the receipt, after the issue of the writ for
an election and before the close of the polling at the election, of a claim for enrolment
or transfer of enrolment may be issued to the claimant by the Retuning Officer in a
form approved by the Electoral Commission.
(3) The Returning Officer keeping the Roll from which an elector’s name has
been transferred shall, upon receipt of notice of the transfer in the prescribed form,
remove the elector’s name from the Roll kept by him.

257. NOTIFICATION OF REJECTION OF CLAIM.

The Returning Officer, on receipt of a claim, shall, subject to Section 258, after
making such inquiry as he considers necessary if he is satisfied that the claimant is
not entitled to enrolment or transfer of enrolment in accordance with the claim,
– 107 –
s. 258. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

notify the claimant as soon as practicable in the prescribed manner that his claim
has been rejected, specifying the reason for the rejection, and advise the claimant
that he is entitled, at any time within three months after the receipt of the
notification, to appeal against the rejection in accordance with the Law.

258. TIME FOR ALTERING ROLLS.

Notwithstanding anything in this Law–
(a) claims for enrolment or transfer of enrolment which are received after 3
p.m. on the day of the issue of the writ for an election shall not be
registered until after the end of the polling period for the election; and
(b) except by direction of the Returning Officer, no name shall be removed
from a Roll under a notification of transfer of enrolment received after 4
p.m. on the day of the issue of the writ for an election and before the end
of the polling period for the election.

259. PENALTY ON OFFICER NEGLECTING TO ENROL CLAIMANTS.

An officer who receives a claim for enrolment or transfer of enrolment and
who, without just excuse, the burden of proof of which lies upon him, fails to do
everything necessary on his part to be done to secure the enrolment of the claimant
in pursuance of the claim is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K1,000.00.

260. ALTERATION OF ROLLS.

(1) In addition to other powers of alteration conferred by this Law, a Returning
Officer may alter a Roll kept by him by–
(a) correcting a mistake or omission in the Roll; and
(b) correcting a mistake or omission in the particulars of the enrolment of
an elector; and
(c) altering, on the application of an elector, the original name, address or
occupation of the elector on the same Roll; and
(d) removing the name of a deceased elector; and
(e) striking out the superfluous entry where the name of the same elector
appears more than once on the same Roll; and
(f) reinstating a name removed by mistake; and
(g) reinstating a name removed as the result of an objection where he is
satisfied that the objection was based on a mistake as to fact and that
the person objected to still retains and has continuously retained his
right to the enrolment in respect of which the objection was made; and

– 108 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 261.

(h) removing a name from the Roll where he is satisfied that the elector has
ceased to be qualified for enrolment on the Roll and has secured
enrolment on another roll.
(2) Where the name of an elector, has, in error, been incorrectly placed on the
Roll for a ward for which he is not entitled to be enrolled, and the elector is entitled
to have his name placed on the Roll for another ward, the Returning Officer for the
ward for which the elector is wrongly enrolled shall remove the name of the elector
from that Roll and shall notify the Returning Officer for the ward for which the
elector is entitled to be enrolled accordingly, and that last-mentioned Returning
Officer shall place the name of the elector on his Roll and shall notify the elector of
the change of enrolment.
(3) No alteration under this section shall, without the authority of the
Returning Officer, be made at any time after 4 p.m. on the day of the issue of the writ
for an election and before the end of the polling period for the election.

261. SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR CERTAIN NOMINATIONS.

Notwithstanding anything in this Law, where a person who is entitled to do so
has nominated for a ward other than the ward for which he is enrolled–
(a) the Returning Officer for the ward for which he nominates shall place
his name on the Roll for that ward and notify the Returning Officer for
the electorate for which he is enrolled who shall remove his name from
the Roll for that ward; and
(b) if the nomination is withdrawn, the Returning Officer for the ward for
which he was nominated shall remove his name from the Roll for that
ward and notify the Returning Officer for the other ward who shall
(unless he has in the meantime nominated for some other ward) restore
his name to the Roll for that other ward; and
(c) if he fails to be elected, the Returning Officer for the ward for which he
was nominated shall remove his name from the Roll for that ward and
notify the Returning Officer for the other ward who shall restore his
name to the Roll for that other ward; and
(d) if he is elected and later ceases to be member for the ward, the
Returning Officer for the ward for which he was the member shall
remove his name from the Roll for that ward and notify the Returning
Officer for the other ward who shall restore his name to the Roll for that
other ward unless he has ceased to be eligible for enrolment in that
ward and has been enrolled in another ward.

262. INCORRECT ENROLMENT.

Where a person whose name has been placed on the Roll for a ward is not
entitled to enrol for that ward and that person secured enrolment under a claim in
which he made a false statement, the Returning Officer may, at any time between

– 109 –
s. 263. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

the date of the issue of the writ for an election for that ward and before the end of the
polling period for that election, remove the name of that person from that Roll.

263. ALTERATIONS TO BE INITIALLED.

Every alteration of a Roll shall be made in such manner that the original entry
shall not be obliterated, and the reason for each alteration and the date of the
alteration shall be set against the alteration, together with the initials of the
Returning Officer or of the person who makes the alteration on behalf of the
Returning Officer.

Division 6.
Objections.

264. NAMES ON ROLL MAY BE OBJECTED TO.

(1) A name on a Roll may be objected to by objection in writing lodged with or
made by the Returning Officer.
(2) A sum of K4.00 shall be deposited in respect of each objection lodged by a
person other than an electoral officer, to be forfeited to Papua New Guinea if the
objection is held by the Returning Officer to be frivolous.

265. OBJECTION.
An objection under Section 264 shall be in the prescribed form, and shall be
signed by an elector enrolled on the same Roll as the person objected to, or by the
Returning Officer or a prescribed officer.

266. DUTY TO OBJECT.

It is the duty of the Returning Officer and of any prescribed officer to lodge or
make an objection in writing, setting out the grounds of the objection, in respect of
any name which he has reason to believe ought not be retained on the Roll.

267. NOTICE OF OBJECTION.

(1) When an objection is made by or lodged with a Returning Officer, the
Returning Officer shall, subject to Subsection (3), give notice as soon as practicable of
the objection to the person objected to.
(2) A notice under Subsection (1) may be in the prescribed form, and may be
served by being posted or delivered to the last-known place of abode of the person
objected to.
(3) Where the Returning Officer is satisfied that the ground of objection stated
in an objection is not a good ground of objection or is frivolous, he may dismiss the
objection, in which case no notice of the objection need be given to the person objected
to.

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 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 268.

(4) An objection on the ground that a person does not reside in the ward for
which he is enrolled shall be deemed not to be good unless it alleges that the person
objected to has not resided in the electorate for the period necessary to qualify him
for enrolment for that electorate.

268. ANSWER TO OBJECTION.

A person objected to under this Part may, orally or in writing in the prescribed
manner, answer the objection.

269. DETERMINATION OF OBJECTION.

(1) Subject to Subsection (2), the Returning Officer shall determine an
objection under this Part as soon as practicable after receipt by him of the answer of
the person objected to, or, if no answer is received within a period of one month after
the posting or delivery of the notice referred to in Section 267(1) and if it appears
that the person objected to is not entitled to be enrolled on the Roll in respect of
which the objection has been made, the Returning Officer shall–
(a) remove the name of the person from the roll; and
(b) cause a copy of the notice of determination to be posted to or served on
the objector and the person objected to.
(2) No name shall be removed from a Roll under this action after 4 p.m. on the
day of issue of the writ for an election and before the end of the polling period for the
election.

Division 7.
Appeals in relation to Enrolment.

270. APPEAL TO DISTRICT COURT.

(1) A person–
(a) who has made a claim for enrolment or transfer of enrolment in
accordance with this Law, and has not been enrolled; or
(b) whose name has been removed from a Roll by the Returning Officer
after an objection,
may at any time within two months after the receipt of notice of the rejection of the
claim or of notice of the determination of the objection, as the case may be, make
application in the prescribed manner to a District Court for an order directing that
his name be enrolled or reinstated on the Roll, as the case requires.
(2) Where an objection has been determined by the Returning Officer
adversely to the person objecting, that person may in the prescribed manner apply to
a District Court for an order sustaining the objection.
(3) Where an application under this section has reference to the decision of the
Returning Officer upon an objection, the applicant shall, as prescribed, served the

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s. 271. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

objector or the person objected to, as the case requires, with notice of the application,
and the person so served may appear, or may in writing authorize any person to
appear on his behalf, to resist the application.
(4) The court may hear and determine an application under this section, and
may make such order as it thinks fit as to the costs of the application.
(5) Costs ordered by the court to be paid may be recovered in the same manner
as the costs of any other proceeding before the court.
(6) The Clerk of the Court shall send by post to the Returning Officer a
certified copy of the order of the court, and the Returning Officer shall make such
entries (if any) upon the Roll as necessary to give effect to the order.

Division 8.
Writs for Elections.

271. WRITS FOR GENERAL ELECTIONS.

The Minister responsible for Provincial and Local-level Government Affairs
acting with, and in accordance with, the advice of the Electoral Commission, shall
issue his writ for a general election so as to accord with the provisions of Section 34
of the Organic Law on Provincial Governments and Local-level Governments.

272. WRITS FOR VACANCIES.

In the case of the need for a by-election. acting with, and in accordance with,
the advice of the Electoral Commission, shall, as soon as practicable after the
vacancy occurs, issue his writ for the election of a new member.

273. FORM OF WRITS.

(1) The writs for elections shall be in the prescribed form and shall fix the date
for–
(a) nominations; and
(b)164 the first and last days of the period during which polling shall take
place; and
(c) the return of the writ.
(2) The Electoral Commission shall. as soon as practicable after the issue of a
writ–
(a) advertise its issue and particulars in at least one newspaper circulated
in the ward to which the writ relates; and
(b) forward a copy to the Provincial Government and Local-level
Government in which the ward is situated; and

164
Section 273 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 52.
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 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 274.

(c) take such further steps as it considers desirable to ensure adequate

publicity.

274. TIME OF ISSUE OF WRITS.

For the purposes of this Law. a writ shall be deemed to have been issued at the
hour of 4 p.m. on the day on which the writ was issued.

275. ADDRESS OF WRITS.

(1) Writs for election of members shall be addressed to the respective
Returning Officers for the wards for which the elections are to be held, and may be
issued through the Electoral Commission.
(2) The Electoral Commission may advise any Returning Officer by electronic
advice of the issue of the writ for an election and the particulars of the writ, and for
the purposes of Section 378 the Returning Officer may act on the advice as if the writ
had been received by him.

276. DATE AND PERIOD OF NOMINATION.

Nomination of the candidates shall commence on the date of the writ, and the
period of nomination shall not exceed seven days, including the date of the writ.

277. DATE OF POLLING.

165(1)
The date fixed for the commencement of the polling period shall be a
Saturday and shall be not less than eight weeks and not more than 11 weeks after
the date of the writ.
(2) Where special circumstances require, the Electoral Commission may, by
notice in the National Gazette: –
(a) fix a date of commencement of polling on a day other than a Saturday;
and
(b) determine that the period specified in Subsection (1) shall be reduced or
extended.

278. DATE OF RETURN OF WRIT.

166(1)
The date fixed for the return of the writ shall not be more than 21 days
after the end of the polling period.
(2) Where special circumstances require, the Electoral Commission may, by
notice in the National Gazette, extend the period specified in Subsection (1).

165
Section 277 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 53.
166
Section 278 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 53.
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s. 279. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

279. DUTY OF RETURNING OFFICER ON RECEIPT OF WRIT.

On the receipt of a writ, the officer to whom it is directed shall endorse, on it
the date of its receipt.

280. GENERAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON SAME DAY.

167(1)
Subject to this section, in the case of a general election, the same day
shall be fixed for the commencement of the polling period in each electorate, and all
writs shall be made returnable on the same day.
(2) Where special circumstances make it necessary for the Electoral
Commission to fix different polling commencement dates for different electorates, the
Commission may do so by notice in the National Gazette.
(3) Where special circumstances make it necessary, the Electoral Commission
may return a writ after the date fixed for the return of writs.

280A. FAILURE TO OBSERVE REQUIREMENTS.

168A
failure to observe a requirement under this Division shall not be a ground
for invalidating an election.

Division 9.
Nominations and Polling.

281. NOMINATIONS.
(1)169 170Subject to Subsection (2), the provisions of Part XI and Part XIA of
this Law (other than Sections 87(c), 90 and 95) shall apply as the provisions of this
Law relating to Local-level Government elections.
(2) References in Part XI to an ‘electorate’ shall be read as references to ‘a
ward’.
(3) No nomination is valid unless at the time of delivery of the nomination the
person nominated or some person on his behalf pays to the Returning Officer or other
person to whom the nomination is made the sum prescribed by the Regulations in
money or in a banker’s cheque.

282. POLLING.
171(1)
Subject to Subsection (2), the provisions of Part XIII of this Law shall
apply as the provisions of this Law relating to Local-level Government elections.

167
Section 280 Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 54.
168
Section 280A Inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 54.
169
Section 281 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 55.
170
Section 281 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 55.
171
Section 282 Subsection (1) substituted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 19; Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 56.
– 114 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 282A.

(2) References in Part XIII to an ‘electorate’ shall be read as references to a“

ward”.

282A. VOTE TO BE MARKED IN PRIVATE.

172Except as otherwise prescribed, a voter upon receipt of a ballot-paper shall
without delay –
(a) retire alone to some unoccupied compartment of the booth, and in there
in private, mark his vote on the ballot-paper in the prescribed manner;
and
(b) fold the ballot-paper so as to conceal his vote and to show clearly the
initials of the presiding officer, and then openly, and without unfolding
it, deposit it in the ballot-box; and
(c) quit the booth.

282B. METHOD OF MARKING BALLOT-PAPER.

173Subject
tho this Law, an elector shall record his vote on his ballot-paper by
placing an “ X ”in the square opposite the name of the candidate for whom he wishes
to vote in such a way as to indicate clearly his preference for that candidate only.

Division 10.
Scrutiny.

283. SCRUTINY.
174(1)
Subject to Subsection (2), the provisions of Part XIV of this Law shall
apply as the provisions of this Law relating to Local-level Government elections.
(2) References in Part XIV to an ‘electorate’ shall be read as references to a“
ward”.

283A - 283C175. [REPEALED.]

Division 11.
Interpreters.

284. INTERPRETERS.
The provisions of Part XV of this Law shall apply as the provisions of this Law
relating to Local-level Government elections.

172
Section 282A Inserted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 20.
173
Section 282B Inserted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 20.
174
Section 283 Substituted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 21; Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 57.
175
Section 283 Substituted by No. 28 of 2002, s. 21; Substituted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 57.
– 115 –
s. 285. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

Division 12.
Return of the Writs.

285. RETURN OF THE WRITS.

(1) Subject to Subsection (2), the provisions of Part XVI of this Law shall apply
as the provisions of this Law to Local-level Government elections.
(2) References on Part XV to an ‘electorate’ shall be read as references to a
‘ward’.

Division 13.
Offences.

286. ILLEGAL PRACTICES.

(1) Subject to Subsection (2), the following are illegal practices:–
(a) publishing an electoral advertisement, handbill or pamphlet or issuing
an electorate notice (other than the announcement by advertisement in
a newspaper of the holding of a meeting) without the name and address
of the person authorizing the publication or issue appearing at the end
of it;
(b) printing or publishing a printed electorate advertisement, handbill or
pamphlet (other than an advertisement in a newspaper) without the
name and place of business of the printer being printed at the foot of it;
(c) printing, publishing or distributing a printed electoral advertisement,
notice, handbill, pamphlet or card containing a representation of a
ballot-paper, or a representation apparently intended to represent a
ballot-paper, and having on it directions intended, or being likely, to
mislead or improperly interfere with an elector in relation to the casting
of his vote;
(d) printing, publishing or distributing an electoral advertisement, notice,
handbill, pamphlet or card containing an untrue or incorrect statement
intended, or being likely, to mislead or improperly interfere with an
elector in relation to the casting of his vote;
(e) wilfully informing an elector during the election period that he is not–
(i) enrolled or entitled to be enrolled; or
(ii) enrolled or entitled to be enrolled for a particular ward; or
(iii) entitled to vote,
when, as a fact, he is enrolled or entitled to be enrolled, or is enrolled or entitled to be
enrolled for the ward, or is entitled to vote, as the case may be;
(f) before, during or after an election, corruptly providing food, drink or
lodging to or for a person on account of anything done, or to be done by
an elector at an election;
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 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 286.

(g) being an elector, corruptly receiving food, drink or lodging on account of

anything done at an election;
(h) by force, threat, fraud, misrepresentation, undue influence or in any
other manner inducing or attempting to induce another person to vote
or fail to vote at an election, or to vote for a particular person at an
election;
(i) falsely personating a person to secure a ballot-paper to which the
personator is not entitled, or personating any other person for the
purpose of voting;
(j) fraudulently destroying or defacing a nomination paper or ballot-paper;
(k) fraudulently taking a ballot-paper out of a polling booth;
(l) fraudulently putting a ballot-paper or other paper into a ballot-box;
(m) taking a ballot-paper out of a polling booth;
(n) forging, or uttering, knowing it to be forged, a nomination paper or
ballot-paper;
(o) in a polling booth during the polling, misconducting oneself, or failing to
obey the lawful directions of the Returning Officer or the Presiding
Officer;
(p) supplying ballot-papers without authority;
(q) unlawfully destroying, taking, opening or otherwise interfering with
ballot-boxes or ballot-papers;
(r) voting more than once at the same election;
(s) wagering on the result of an election;
(t) wilfully defacing, mutilating, destroying or removing a notice, list or
other document affixed by a Returning Officer or by his authority;
(u) knowingly making a false statement in a claim, application, return or
declaration, or in answer to a question under this Law;
(v) distributing an advertisement, handbill or pamphlet published in
contravention of Paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d).
(2) Subsection (1)(c) or (d) does not prevent the printing, publishing or
distributing of a card, not otherwise illegal, that contains instructions as to how to
vote for a particular candidate, so long as the instructions are not intended, or likely,
to mislead an elector in relation to the recording of his vote.
(3) A person who contravenes Subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: A fine not exceeding K500.00 or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding one month or both.

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s. 287. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

Division 14.
Disputed Elections and Returns.

287. DISPUTED ELECTIONS AND RETURNS.

(1) Subject to this section, the provisions of Part XVIII of this Law, other than
Sections 208(e), 209, 210, 212(2), and 213, shall apply as the provisions of this law
relating to disputed Local-level Government elections and returns.
(2) References in Part XVIII to–
(a) “Clerk of Parliament” shall be read as to “clerk of the Local-level
Government”; and
(b) “electorate” shall be read as to a “ward”; and
(c) “member” shall be read as to “member of the Local-level Government”;
and
(d) ‘National Court“ shall be read as to ”District Court”; and
(e) “Registrar of National Court” shall be read as to “Clerk of the District
Court”; and
(f) “Speaker” shall be read as to “head of the Local-level Government.
(3) A petition to dispute an election or return shall be filed at the District
Court in the town in which are situated the headquarters of the Provincial
Government of the Province which includes the area of the Local-level Government
in respect of which the election was held.
(4) At the time of filing the petition the petitioner shall deposit with the Clerk
of the District Court the sum of K50.00 as security for costs.
(5) Proceedings shall not be heard on a petition unless the requirements of
Subsections (3) and (4) and Section 208(a) to (d) inclusive are complied with.

– 118 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 288.

PART XX. – MISCELLANEOUS.

288. LOCAL GOVERNMENT RULES ON ADVERTISING, ETC.

Any rule of a Local Level Government dealing with advertising, publishing of
matter or any similar matter that–
(a) discriminates or may discriminate against any candidate or class of
candidates at an election; or
(b) gives preference or may give preference to be given to one candidate
over another candidate in an election; or
(c) gives preference or may give preference to one registered political party
over another registered political party; or
(d) allows a Local-level Government to do any of the matters specified in
Paragraph (a), (b) or (c),
is, to the extent that it discriminates, may discriminate, gives preference, may give
preference, or allows a Local-level Government to discriminate or give preference,
void.

289. INSTITUTION OF PROCEEDINGS FOR DEFENCES.

(1)176 177The Electoral Commission shall, where the Public Prosecutor so
advises, institute legal proceedings against a person committing an offence against
this Law and Sections 99, 100, 102, 103, 108 and 110 of the Criminal Code Act
(Chapter 262)..
(1A)178 179A person convicted of an offence under Section 191 (offences in table
numbered 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13 and 14), Section 195 of this Law and Sections 99, 100,
102, 103, 108 and 110 of the Criminal Code Act (Chapter 262) shall be disqualified
from voting, holding elective public office or being employed in the Public Service, in
a provincial government or a local-level government.
(2) Nothing in Subsection (1) affects the rights of any person to institute
proceedings in respect of an offence against this Law.

289A. CIVIL CLAIMS AGAINST THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION.

180No
claim for damages may be maintained against the Electoral Commission,
the Electoral Commissioner or an electoral officer for cancelling an election, breach of
statutory duty, negligence or other claim under the underlying law for any act or
omission with respect to the conduct of elections.

176
Section 289 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 59.
177
Section 289 Subsection (1) amended by No. 00 of 2006, s. 59.
178
Section 289 Subsection (1A) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 59.
179
Section 289 Subsection (1A) inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 59.
180
Section 289A Inserted by No. 00 of 2006, s. 60.
– 119 –
s. 290. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

290. CERTIFICATE EVIDENCE.

On a prosecution under this Law, the certificate of the Electoral Commission
or the Returning Officer that an election referred to in the certificate was duly held
and that the person named in the certificate was a candidate at the election is
evidence of the matters stated.

291. ELECTORAL MATTER MAY BE SENT BY ELECTRONIC MEANS.

(1) In all cases where it is impracticable to communicate any electoral matter
by post without occasioning undue delay, any electronic advice communicated in the
ordinary course shall suffice for all the purposes of this Law as if the matter sent
through electronic means had been communicated in the manner prescribed by this
Law.
(2) Subject to Subsection (3), where, after the result of an election has been
declared, the Returning Officer has certified by electronic means addressed to the
Electoral Commission–
(a) that by reason of distance, or the infrequency of, or any interruption to,
the postal services, the writ for the election, endorsed by the Returning
Officer with the name of the candidate elected, cannot reach the
Electoral Commission within 21 days; and
(b) the name of the candidate elected,
the Electoral Commission may endorse upon a copy of the writ a certified copy of the
telegram received by it, and the copy so endorsed shall have the same force and effect
as if it were the original writ duly endorsed by the Returning Office.
(3) If, upon the return of an original writ, any inconsistency is found to exist
between the original writ and the copy of the writ endorsed under Subsection (2) as
to the name of the candidate elected, the copy shall thereupon cease to have any force
or effect, and action shall be taken in accordance with the endorsement on the
original writ.

292. AVERMENTS DEEMED TO BE PROVED.

In a prosecution in a court of summary jurisdiction in respect of a
contravention of the provisions of this Law relating to compulsory enrolment,
instituted by an officer or by a person acting under the direction of an officer, the
averments of the prosecutor contained in the information or complaint shall be
deemed to be proved in the absence of evidence to the contrary.

293. DEFENDANT MAY BE CALLED UPON TO GIVE EVIDENCE.

Where a person has secured enrolment in pursuance of an electoral claim, or
has made a claim for enrolment or transfer of enrolment, and proceedings arise in a
court of competent jurisdiction in respect of the claim for enrolment or transfer of
enrolment, the person may be called upon to give evidence upon oath to the court as

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 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 294.

to the truth of the statements contained in the claim for enrolment or transfer of
enrolment.

294. PRODUCTION OF CLAIMS FOR ENROLMENT, ETC.

(1) A person who is, or has been, an officer shall not, except for the purposes of
this Law, be required–
(a) to produce in court, or give evidence of, a claim for enrolment or transfer
of enrolment under this Law; or
(b) to divulge or communicate to a court any matter or thing in relation to a
claim for enrolment or transfer of enrolment under this Law, being a
matter or thing that has come to his notice in the performance of his
duties or functions under this Law.
(2) In this section, “officer” includes any person performing duties, or
exercising powers or functions, under or in relation to this Law.

295. PRESERVATION OF BALLOT-PAPERS.

(1) Subject to Subsection (2), all ballot-papers, certified lists of voters and
declarations used at or in connection with an election shall be preserved as
prescribed until the election can no longer be questioned, when they shall be
destroyed.
(2) Ballot-papers, certified lists of voters and declarations referred to in
Subsection (1) shall be preserved for a period of 40 days after the date of the
declaration of the poll.

296. PRESCRIBED OFFENCES.

For the purposes of Section 47(1)(b) (right to vote and stand for public office) of
the Constitution the offences contained in the sections specified hereunder are
prescribed offences:–
“Sections 106, 107, 174(2), 178(1)(c), (d) and (e), 188(3), 191(1), (4), (7), (8), (9),
(10), (12), (14) and (15), 195, 197(1) and 201.”

297. CONSTITUTIONAL REGULATIONS.

As authorized by Section 258 (Constitutional Regulations) of the Constitution,
the Head of State, acting with, and in accordance with, the advice of the National
Executive Council may make Constitutional Regulations, not inconsistent with this
Law, prescribing all matters that by this Law are required or permitted to be
prescribed, or that are necessary or convenient to be prescribed, for carrying out or
giving effect to this Law, and in particular for prescribing–
(a) penalties not exceeding K200.00 for contraventions of the Regulations;
and

– 121 –
s. 297. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

(b) the procedure in relation to the imposition and recovery of penalties for
offences against the compulsory enrolment provisions of this Law.

– 122 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 298.

PART XXI. – REPEAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENT.

298. REPEAL.
The following laws are repealed:–
(a) Organic Law on National Elections;
(b) Organic Law on National Elections (Amendment No. 1 Law);
(c) Electoral Regulation 1977;
(d) Electoral (Marking of Votes) Regulation 1982;
(e) Electoral (Amendment) Regulation 1987;
(f) Parts V.1 and 2 of the Local Government Act (Chapter 57);
(g) Local Government (Electoral Provisions) Regulation (Chapter 57);
(h) Local Government (Urban Council Electoral Provisions) Regulation
(Chapter 57).

299. CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS TO ORGANIC LAW ON

PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS AND LOCAL-LEVEL GOVERNMENTS.
The Organic Law on the Provincial Governments and Local-level Governments
is amended–
(a) in Section 29(1)–
(i) in Paragraph (a) by inserting after the words “in accordance with”
the following:–
“an Organic Law or”; and
(ii) in Paragraph (b), by inserting after the words “in accordance
with” the following:–
“an Organic Law or”; and
(b) by repealing Section 34(1) and replacing it with the following:–
“(1) Wherever practicable, the term of a Local-level
Government shall be the same as and run concurrently
with the term of the Parliament, but in order to ensure
the effective conduct of respective elections, this may be
varied, provided that the date for the return of writs in a
general election to Local-level Governments is fixed for a
date not later than three months after the date fixed for
the return of the writs of the general election to the
Parliament.”; and

(c) in Section 37, by inserting after the words “in accordance with” the
following:–
“an Organic Law or”.
– 123 –
s. 300. Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

PART XXII. – SAVINGS AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS.

300. INTERPRETATION.
In this Part, “repealed laws” means the laws repealed by Section 298.

301. ELECTORAL COMMISSIONER.

The Electoral Commissioner, appointed under the repealed laws and holding
office immediately prior to the coming into operation of this Law, continues, after
that coming into operation, to hold the office of Electoral Commissioner on the same
terms and conditions for the remainder of the term for which he was appointed or
until his appointment is earlier terminated according to law and the repealed laws do
not operate so as to abolish the Office of Electoral Commissioner.

302. RETURNING OFFICERS AND ASSISTANT RETURNING OFFICERS.

Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers appointed under the
repealed laws and holding office as such immediately prior to the coming into
operation of this law, continue, on that coming into operation, to hold the office for
the remainder of the term for which they were appointed or where no term is
specified until their appointment is revoked.

303. STAFF.
Staff made available under the repealed laws to the Electoral Commission by
the Department responsible for personnel matters and serving as staff of the
Electoral Commission immediately prior to the coming into operation of this law
shall continue to serve as staff of the Electoral Commission.

304. PROCEDURES RELATING TO 1997 GENERAL ELECTION.

All procedures of or pertaining to the general election to the Parliament and to
the Local-level Government elections to be held during 1997 carried out under and in
accordance with the repealed laws prior to the coming into operation of this law, are,
on that coming into operation, deemed to have been carried out under and in
accordance with this Law, and in so far as such procedures have not been completed,
shall be completed in accordance with the procedures of this Law.

305. CONSTITUTIONAL REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO 1997

ELECTIONS.
In order to ensure compliance with–
(a) the Constitution, under which a general election to the Parliament falls
to be held in 1997; and
(b) the Organic Law on Provincial Governments and Local-level
Governments, under which the term of Local-level Governments shall be

– 124 –
 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 s. 305.

the same as and run concurrently with the term of the Parliament so
that elections to Local-level Governments fall to be held in 1997,
the Head of State, acting on advice, may make Constitutional Regulations (as
authorized by Section 258 (Constitutional Regulations) of the Constitution)–
(c) modifying this Law to such an extent; and
(d) making such incidental, consequential and supplementary amendments
to this Law,
as may be necessary to enable the elections referred to in Paragraphs (a) and (b) to
take place, and any such modifications and amendments have, in relation to those
elections, full force and effect and on publication of the Constitutional Regulation
shall apply in respect of those elections.

– 125 –
Sch. 1 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997

SCHEDULE 1

PAPUA NEW GUINEA.

Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elections.

Form 1 – Writ for a general election of members of the National

Parliament.
Sec. 73. Form 1

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 Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elec 1997 Sch. 1

PAPUA NEW GUINEA.

Organic Law on National and Local-level Government Elections.

Form 2 – Writ for a election of a member of the National Parliament to

fill a casual vacancy.
Sec. 74. Form 2.

Office of Legislative Counsel, PNG

– 127 –