Papua New Guinea's electoral commissioner says he is confident the limited preferential voting system will work well in the country's future elections.
The acting commissioner, Andrew Trawen, made the statement as system is tested for the first time in a by-election for one of the country's 109 parliamentary seats.
Mr Trawen says voting in the Abau electorate, which ends on Thursday night - two days ahead of schedule - has demonstrated how the people have understood the limited preferential voting system.
He says voters cast their first, second and third preferences without much trouble.
Mr Trawen says couting under tight security starts next week and a new member will be declared after the new year.
Our reporter in PNG, Firmin Nanol, says a national court ordered the by-election after declaring the election of former public service minister, Dr Puka Temu, null and void after finding him guilty of bribery and putting undue influence on voters in last year's general elections.
The acting commissioner, Andrew Trawen, made the statement as system is tested for the first time in a by-election for one of the country's 109 parliamentary seats.
Mr Trawen says voting in the Abau electorate, which ends on Thursday night - two days ahead of schedule - has demonstrated how the people have understood the limited preferential voting system.
He says voters cast their first, second and third preferences without much trouble.
Mr Trawen says couting under tight security starts next week and a new member will be declared after the new year.
Our reporter in PNG, Firmin Nanol, says a national court ordered the by-election after declaring the election of former public service minister, Dr Puka Temu, null and void after finding him guilty of bribery and putting undue influence on voters in last year's general elections.
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.