Voter Experiences during Bougainville’s 2019 Independence Referendum

This In Brief sets out the results of the independence referendum in Bougainville, held between 23 November and 7 December 2019, and presents the findings of research undertaken on a range of administrative irregularities and problems that affected voter participation in what has generally been accepted to have been a successful referendum. Primary data for the research was collected through interviews with Bougainville Referendum Commission (BRC) officials, scrutineers, polling officials, police officers and observers.1 Secondary data was collected through mass media, radio broadcasts, Facebook and other online sources.AusAI