В избирателям Вануату напомнили о необходимости проверки регистрации до выборов

Presiding Officer Douglas Tamara says many people still do not understand that those who reside in rural areas cannot vote in municipal elections. Photo: Nicholas Mwai Presiding Officer at Anamburu Polling Station 2, William Naviti, urged voters not to be ignorant when the Electoral Office’s Information Desk goes out to the field for registration. Presiding Officer Douglas Tamara says many people still do not understand that those who reside in rural areas cannot vote in municipal elections. Photo: Nicholas Mwai By Nicholas Mwai Presiding Officer at Anamburu Polling Station 2, William Naviti, urged voters not to be ignorant when the Electoral Office’s Information Desk goes out to the field for registration. By Anita Roberts Presiding Officer Pierrick Lesines assisting voters to cast their votes at Ex-FOL Polling Station 1. Photo: Nicholas Mwai It is very sad to see that many voters have failed to verify their ID cards and confirm their names on the electoral roll, only to be turned away when they arrived to vote yesterday. Presiding Officer at the Vila North Polling Station, Douglas Tamara, stressed this when providing an update to the Daily Post yesterday. He said people must take responsibility for checking whether their ID cards are valid and whether they are registered to vote in the correct electoral area. “We need to take responsibility when the Electoral Office announces that it is time for verification... We told those voters who were turned away to go to the Civil Registry Department to arrange their ID cards for the next election,” he said. The Presiding Officer said some people still do not understand that they reside in rural areas and were not eligible to vote in the Port Vila Municipal Election. “Voters came from Blacksands, Bladinere and even as far as Teouma,” he said. Michael Naviti, who presided over Anamburu Polling Station 2, urged voters not to ignore the Electoral Office’s Information Desk when it visits their ward for registration before an election. “This is to avoid voters blaming presiding officers or electoral officers due to a lack of understanding or failure to check their registration details,” he stressed. Presiding Officer at Freswota School Polling Station, John Webstar, said some voters turned up to vote but were not registered on the voters’ list. He said these voters did not take the Electoral Office’s registration visit seriously. Patricia Frank, who presided at the Town Hall Polling Station, said that many of the voters who turned up to vote yesterday were not on the electoral roll, despite participating in previous elections. She said it is each voter’s responsibility to ensure his or her information is updated. Presiding Officer at the Freshwota Evacuation Centre Polling Station, Juline Tarsong, said many voters were registered at different polling stations, while ID cards scanned showed polling stations unknown. Director of Vanuatu Electoral Services, Guillain Malessas, said before yesterday’s election that voting comes with responsibility, meaning each voter must ensure that they are properly registered before election day. He said official results are expected before the weekend or early Monday.