There reports that simmering tensions in Papua New Guinea's autonomous Bougainville region have stopped voters reaching polling stations to choose their new president.
Bougainvilleans were supposed go to the polls last Saturday after former leader Joseph Kabui died from a heart attack in June this year.
But security fears tied to issues dating back 20 years to the closure of the island's giant copper mine are causing concerns for election officials.
Bougainville's acting electoral commissioner, Mathias Pihei, told the news agency AAP that some polling had been completed in the region's north but in the capital Buka, and in central and south Bougainville not one ballot had been cast.
He says armed roadblocks, unresolved financial disputes with the Bougainville government and factional tensions linked to the civil war have been cited as factors stalling this year's presidential race
Mathias Pihei says one group in central Bougainville will not allow voting until the government pays for late president Kabui's funeral costs.
The United Nations, Australia and New Zealand have officials in the region monitoring the elections in an informal capacity.
