Voting in Kudjip

July 4th, 2012 marked election day for the province of Jiwaka.  

I was fortunate enough to have a front row seat, since they set up a voting area right outside of maintenance. Everything seemed to go very smoothly with very little fighting, bribery, or corruption (which I'm told is not always the case at other voting areas).  

This was the bus of voting officials and armed forces who came to monitor the voting in the area.  Only a few had to stay in Kudjip, the rest were sent out to neighboring villages.

This is how you vote:

1.) Stand in "line" a LONG time.

2.) Enter the secured voting area and receive a ballot.

3.) Stand in line some more.

4.) Go up to the "voting booth" (the desk surrounded with cardboard) and mark your ballot.

5.) Turn in your ballot.  DONE!

There are separate lines for men and women...I'm not sure why.

This is the list of candidates along with their pictures.  These were posted around the outside of the voting area as well as inside the voting "booth."

The "line."  If you don't require any personal space, then PNG is the place for you!!

To make sure that people only vote once, you have to get your fingernail marked with some sort of permanent, extremely difficult to remove nail polish like substance.  

Voila!  It's like the "I VOTED" stickers you get in America...just a little longer lasting! :)