ACTING Electoral Commissioner Margaret Vagi has urged eligible voters to register early for the General Election 2027 (GE27), warning that inaccurate rolls require public participation to fix.
Vagi said the Electoral Commission is often blamed when voter lists contain mistakes, but stressed that a structured clean-up process will be carried out in three stages starting later this year.
“The Electoral Commission always gets blamed by the public when the voter lists are messy or full of errors,” she said.
She explained that in July, trained local field officers will begin house-to-house registration visits in villages to collect accurate voter details and photographs.
From October to November, preliminary voter lists will be returned to communities for public verification, allowing citizens to check for missing names or incorrect spellings.
By December, the electoral roll will be closed, with no further amendments allowed as preparations shift towards polling operations and election security.
Vagi made the remarks during the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the Electoral Commission and the provincial administrations of Jiwaka and Western Highlands last week.
She said the new agreements are legally binding and represent a shift toward stronger accountability, compared to previous informal arrangements.
“With this agreement, we are shifting that responsibility back to the local communities,” she said.
She added that local leadership, including ward recorders and enrolment committees, will now play a central role in verifying and signing off on voter information to ensure community ownership of the electoral roll.
Jiwaka administrator Rick Kogen said K300,000 from local revenue would support election preparations, including training and field operations.
Western Highlands administrator Joseph Mangbil said the province was ready to assist, but highlighted funding delays as a major concern, arguing that elections are often treated as last-minute exercises.
