Cornelius Kakale v John Thomas Pundari and Electoral Commission; Re Election for Kompiam–Ambun Electorate

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Judge: Woods J
• Judgment Date: 22 January 1993
• Citation: [1993] PNGLR 454
• Court: National Court
• Year: 1993
• Judgement Number: N1135

National Court: Woods J

Judgment Delivered: 22 January 1993

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

[NATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE]

CORNELIUS KAKALE

V

JOHN THOMAS PUNDARI AND THE

ELECTORAL COMMISSION

Mount Hagen

Woods J

20-22 January 1993

PARLIAMENT — Elections — Disputed returns — Irregularities by officers of the Electoral Commission in the counting.

Facts

The petitioner disputes the validity of the election of the first respondent as the member for Kompiam-Ambun Electorate in 1992. He alleges irregularities in the counting procedure by the second respondent and undue influence by the first respondent on the electoral officials, which affected the counting.

Held

1. A declaration of the winner in an election is made only after the counting sheet is ruled off and signed by the officials and the scrutineers.

2. It is not sufficient for a petitioner to come to the National Court with suspicions and doubts as to the validity of an election. The National Court is able only to act on evidence where there has been clear irregularity or illegal acts which may have affected the results of the election.

Counsel

R Vaea, for the petitioner.

P Niningi, for the first respondent.

J Bray, for the second respondent.

22 January 1993

WOODS J: This is a petition disputing the validity of the election for the Kompiam-Ambun Electorate in the Enga province in the 1992 national elections.

The petitioner has made a number of allegations. They are all concerned with alleged irregularities or undue influence at the counting of the poll held at the Wabag Community School between 27 June and 3 July 1992. He firstly alleges irregularities by Electoral Commission officials such that there were two declarations of winners and, next, that there was undue influence by the first respondent on the electoral officials which affected the counting and led to a "second count" and thereby to the declaration of the first respondent as the winner.

The evidence brought by the petitioner is that, at the beginning of the counting for the Kompiam-Ambun seat on 27 June, the Assistant Returning Officer discussed the procedure for the counting with all the assembled officials and scrutineers and divided all the boxes from the polling into three lots. The first lot was of 73 good boxes, which were all satisfactorily identified. The second lot was of 18 boxes, which had been taken to Kompiam station from a different place. There were questions about the security of those boxes. The third lot was of 8 boxes, which arrived late and were brought in privately. The petitioner's evidence was that there was agreement that the 73 boxes would be counted, but the remaining 26 would not be counted, as they were suspect. The leader at the end of the 73 boxes would be declared the winner. At the end of the counting of the 73 boxes, the petitioner said, the Assistant Returning Officer declared him as the winner, but, because of pressure from the first respondent and others, he Assistant Returning Officer, after a delay and after consulting with other commission officers and others, continued counting more boxes. After...