Counting for the two seats of the Manus province began on Friday and continued over the weekend without any major incidents, says Manus Provincial Police Commander Chief Inspector Kiweri Kesambi.
“I am relieved that our polling was completed in time and we are now going into vote counting with no election related violence so far,” said PPC Kesambi.
He urged the people of Manus to continue maintaining the good behavior until the return of writs.
Polling for Manus Province ended on Thursday 14 July 2022 when the ballot boxes from the three remaining Local Level Governments (LLGs) were brought into Lorengau and locked away in the Manus Provincial Police Headquarters.
Counting began on Friday, continues today and is expected to take up this week.
Mr Kesambi said the last three LLGs, Aua Vuvulu, Nigoherm and Bisakani, are all rural LLGs. He said the ballot boxes for Nigoherm and Aua Vuvulu along with the polling officials and the security personnel were transported by the navy ship HMPNGS Ted Diro and arrived at the Lombrum Naval Base at 5.30am on Thursday.
They were received by election officials and members of the security forces escorted the ballot boxes to the Police Headquarters.
Meanwhile Bisakani LLG brought their ballot boxes into Lorengau Town by smaller boats with the escort of the security forces.