Police in Solomon Islands have recovered a ballot box after it was briefly stolen by an election official following yesterday’s historic polls. Vote counting is underway in the country’s general election, the first to be led by the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force. The 10-year Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) was reduced to a police mission supporting local police last year. Solomons police confirmed a ballot box was stolen by an election official as a boat was being loaded to go to a central counting station. The incident happened near Auki, in the eastern part of the island of Malaita.
Police chased the official who dropped the ballot box before escaping into the jungle.
A police spokesman said they were investigating whether one of the candidates had ordered the theft.
In a separate incident, a supporter of a candidate in the south part of Malaita sustained minor injures when rivals threw stones.
