The East New Britain Provincial Election Manager has welcomed the announcement of the deferral of the 2024 Local Level Government (LLG) Elections, emphasizing that this will allow for better preparation, with an estimated provincial budget of K5 million. This follows a joint statement by the Minister for Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs, Soroi Eoe, and Chief Electoral Commissioner, Simon Sinai. The elections, originally scheduled for July, will now take place in September due to the ongoing National Census. The revised schedule includes the issue of writs on September 26th, with nominations, campaigns, and polling extending into late November and December. Provincial Election Manager, Joap Voivoi confirmed that the delay also addresses logistical and funding challenges. He assured that preparations in the province are on track, with polling and counting officials’ training set for October, following nomination training. Voivoi said the postponement provides extra time for logistics, recruitment, and ward roll data processing. “We will have to re-do our polling schedules due to the changes in the dates of the elections." "The deferral will also give us time to properly prepare our logistics and recruitment of polling and counting officials." "We also have the ward roll enrolment data processing to be completed,” Voivoi said. He further said the province is gearing up for the LLG Elections, ensuring all eligible voters are accurately listed. According to the Department of Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs and the PNG Electoral Commission, key dates to note for the 2024 LLG Elections are as follows: - Issue of Writs:         September 26 - Nominations:          September 26 - November 3 - Campaign Period:     September 26 - November 22 - Polling:               November 23 - December 6 - Counting:             December 7 - December 26 - Return of Writs: December 27