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Voting in Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby has been cancelled after polling officials for the national election went on strike, authorities say.
The PNG Electoral Commission said the vote had been delayed until Friday because it did not pay the workers their "camping allowances".
Polls in the national election opened in some parts of the county over the weekend, in what is scheduled to be a two-week voting process.
But it has been delayed and disrupted across the country since Saturday, and is due to begin in some highlands provinces today.
Scrutineers in many parts of the country are reporting problems with the electoral roll and the distribution of ballot papers.
Thousands of police and soldiers have been deployed to some of the most volatile areas of the Papua New Guinea highlands, where angry candidates say polling officials are biased and the electoral roll is inaccurate.
"I am confident that, yes we can deliver and we will deliver these elections securely and freely," police superintendent Michael Welly said yesterday.
Many voters were anticipating interference by candidates in the election process, and have threatened violence if they do not believe it is conducted fairly.
Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, is hoping voters will overlook economic problems and corruption controversies to give him a second term.
The struggling economy and lack of government services have been at the forefront of voter concerns.
Opposition leader Don Polye — a former treasurer in Mr O'Neill's Government — has been hammering the theme of economic collapse and irresponsible borrowing in his campaign.
Topics: elections, government-and-politics, world-politics, papua-new-guinea, pacific
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