Elvis ready to vote in Papua New Guinea

[srj1967]

From the news wires here in Australia ...

Elvis set to vote as false names dog poll

By Lloyd Jones in Port Moresby
March 05, 2007

ELVIS Presley is living in Papua New Guinea's Highlands, ready to vote in the country's national elections, if the region's new electoral rolls are anything to go by.

PNG's electoral officials are concerned that the rolls in the five Highlands provinces are stacked with false names.

Names on registration forms include Elvis Presley, crooner Tom Jones and royalty - including the King and Queen, Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen said.

Ghost names and double entries were rife and voter registrations were up to 33 per cent above the estimated number of eligible voters, he said.

With PNG's national election set to start on June 30, the country's Electoral Commission is busy co-ordinating the update and correction of corrupted and inflated electoral rolls.

But the same old rorts and corruptions are surfacing in the Highlands, along with new twists such as Elvis impersonators.

Mr Trawen said certain politicians in the "troublesome region" were behind the practice of ghost names and double entries on the voter rolls.

[srj1967]

This is how I put up the story on my news website where I work.

(www.news.com.au for all your Australian and world news needs ...)