Elections in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea has a unicameral National Parliament. In the 2022 general election, it had 118 seats: 96 open electorates and 22 provincial electorates, including the National Capital District and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. Parliament sets electorate boundaries following recommendations from the Boundaries Commission, with reviews scheduled at intervals of no more than 10 years. The number of seats and boundaries for the 2027 election should be checked against the final official notices. The national voting process uses two ballots: one for the open electorate and one for the provincial electorate. On each ballot, the voter ranks candidates with preferences 1, 2 and 3 under LPV. The voter generally needs to be a PNG citizen with full legal capacity, at least 18 years old, resident in the ward for at least six months and listed on that ward's roll. A person sentenced to death or imprisoned for more than nine months, or convicted of an electoral offence within the previous three years, can be excluded under the applicable rules. Enrolment is legally required and is completed personally through an Enrolment Agent. Voting is tied to the ward roll and polling place, and assisted-voting guidance is available. Parliamentary candidates generally need to be at least 25 years old and either born in the electorate, continuously resident there for the two years immediately before nomination or resident there for five years in total. The nomination fee was K1,000 for the 2022 election and should be verified again for 2027. The 2022 nomination process used specified forms, party endorsement documents where applicable, passport photographs and the original payment receipt. Candidates and political parties also face financial and expenditure disclosure requirements. Non-citizens may not hold political-party membership or make political-party contributions under the stated rules. LLG elections select the head of the Local-level Government and ward representatives. Urban LLGs include three nominated seats for workers, employers and women; rural LLGs include two nominated women representatives. LLG candidates are subject to local citizenship, birth, residence, ancestry, language and qualification rules, including knowledge of an Indigenous language and English, Tok Pisin or Hiri Motu. Disqualifications can include undischarged bankruptcy or insolvency, an applicable mental-health condition, medically certified alcoholism, an indictable conviction or dismissal under the Leadership Code. In 2025, local elections included 6,916 ward-council contests and 210 LLG-president contests. Depending on the province, an LLG president may be elected directly or indirectly by ward councillors. Local writs and provincial rules control the precise process. Bougainville is separate from the national election administration. Its independent electoral authority conducts elections under the rules of the Autonomous Bougainville Government. The 2025 Bougainville election included a presidential election, 38 single-member constituencies and reserved seats for women and former combatants. These elections should not be treated as National Parliament elections. After polling, officials secure ballot materials and conduct scrutiny and counting at count centres. The Returning Officer and Assistant Returning Officer examine formal and informal ballots, declare results and return the formal writ to the Head of State. A writ is the formal instrument confirming the election result. An election petition is heard by the National Court. A by-election can fill a casual vacancy, subject to exceptions such as a vacancy arising within the final 12 months before a regular general election or after the writ for that election has been issued. Voters elect members of Parliament, not the Prime Minister directly. Parliament must meet no later than seven days after the writs are returned, and the Head of State appoints the Prime Minister according to the parliamentary decision at the first sitting. Voters are expected to queue orderly, follow polling instructions, vote peacefully and leave the polling place after voting. Inducement, coercion, intimidation and violence threaten electoral integrity; complaints can be raised with election officials or the police. Preparation for the 2027 National General Election was active in 2026. Proposed biometric, electronic or identity-based voting and Common Roll cleaning were reform projects, not changes that should be assumed to have taken effect. A tentative calendar listed writs and nominations from 29 April 2027, nomination closing on 6 May, polling from 26 June to 9 July and writ return on 30 July. PNGEC confirmation is required before treating those dates as final. Local elections have also faced delays linked to roll and ward redistricting, late legal instruments, funding, procurement, transport, terrain and security.