National Capital District police have detected two extra ballot boxes that were among other boxes in a container that was moved from the Air Transport Wing, 7 mile to Sir John Guise Stadium on the weekend. The illegal ballot boxes were found to have been added to the lot which had serial numbers that did not match up with the PNG Electoral Commissions list. National Capital District Metropolitan Superintendent, Gideon Ikumu confirmed that the ballot boxes were among those belonging to the Moresby North-West electorate that were transferred from ATS. “When the Ballot Papers were brought in, they were stored at ATS. So all the logistical operations and security detail were planned by the Electoral Commission,” Ikumu said. The discovery of the illegal boxes in the container was the result of questions over the integrity of the ballot boxes raised by MNE candidates and scrutineers at the site. Ikumu stated that yesterday, the police were engaged to escort the movement of the ballot boxes from their first holding location to the counting area for checking before the pre-check prior to polling. It was at the stadium that the extras were detected. He also commended the actions taken by the scrutineers and candidates that were available on ground protesting the integrity of the extra ballot boxes. “The scrutineers of the candidates that were there did a good job identifying and pointing the extras, protested and demanded to have an explanation from the electoral commission,” he added. They demanded that before the sensitive materials be locked up and confined, they had to be checked thoroughly first. Supt. Ikumu added that when the boxes were checked against the serial numbers provided by the electoral manager, it was discovered that two extra boxes were not part of the list. Upon the opening of the extra boxes, it was found that the ballot papers contained in the boxes were duplicated and were significantly different from those produced in Australia. The boxes are now isolated and kept in the container while the candidates and scrutineers are now demanding an explanation as to why there were extras. The Electoral Commission is said to tender their explanation this afternoon. Meanwhile, Supt. Ikumu has advised that should the commission not provide a proper explanation, the NCD police will proceed to conduct an investigation into the illegal ballot boxes.