Several candidates vying for the Moresby North-East Electorate and the NCD Regional seat yesterday signed and served a petition for the Electoral Commission demanding something to be done for the illegal ballot boxes. The gathering took place in the evening with many candidates expressing distaste to the commission’s decision to not inform the candidates of the movement of the sensitive material until moments before their confinement at the Sir John Guise Stadium. “None of the candidates for Moresby-North East were informed of when the boxes of ballot papers will be released,” said Moresby North-East Candidate, Ms. Tania Bale. She added that it was really disappointing that this has happened had the processes been followed in the first place. There had been conflicting information on when the ballot papers would be released but the most consistent was that they were released on the Friday 01st of July. Ms. Bale was among many others including Regional Candidate, Ms. Sylvia Pascoe and fellow North-East Candidate, Diane Unagi Koiam. A discontented Sylvia Pascoe said that the information that they received from the election manager was that the serial numbers matched the number of papers that were there. She stated that they were not disputing that information, they were worried about the extra boxes that are unlike the rest. “They are not sealed like the rest, they are not wrapped up like the rest, the writing on them is different, and these are obviously different so it appears that they have been tampered with,” Ms. Pascoe said. Ms. Pascoe reiterated that it was a worrying sign and is questioning the status of the papers. “I am worried, have they been pre-marked and put in these boxes or have they been photocopied, has someone taken a copy of these papers and photocopied them,” she said. Speaking of the petition, she said it highlighted a few facts: 1. None of the candidates were informed of the movement of the ballot papers 2. They did not witness the material being transported to its holding facility when it arrived in the country 3. They did not see the material being transported to the counting facility 4. The Transport logistics for the material was organized but the material was transported in a different vehicle Ms. Pascoe added that they just wanted answers to the irregularities that they had encountered.