In a surprising twist of events, the Electoral
Commission, seems to have finally conceded to the definition of over voting
presented to the Supreme Court by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, during the Presidential
Election Petition but which was strenuously denied by the Electoral Commission
led by its boss, Kwadwo Afari Djan and the NDC, which was represented by Asiedu
Nketiah with Tsatsu Tsikata as its counsel.Speaking to the Press on
Tuesday, Madam Charlotte Osei, EC boss disclosed that The Electoral Commission
has redefined what over-voting should ‘mean’ for the upcoming elections
indicating that the total number of registered voters would not be part of the
equation for calculating over voting.
The definition of Over voting was
one of the most contentious issues during the Presidential Election Petition and
ultimately contributed to the decision by the Court to reject the
Petition.
While the Petitioners, whose star witness was Dr. Mahamudu
Bawumia, insisted that over voting occurred when the total number of ballots in
the box was more than the total number of ballots cast on the face of the pink
sheets or the total number of ballots issued to voters, the NDC and EC insisted
that over voting was only when the total number of ballots in the box exceeded
the total number of registered voters at the polling station.
NDC General
Secretary Asiedu Nketiah during his evidence at the Supreme Court on May 23rd,
2013 stated “My Lord, I’m saying this because we have come to know over-voting
to mean an occurrence where the number of votes found in the ballot box exceeds
the number of people who are entitled to vote at that polling station; so that
clearly is my understanding of over-voting, and I do not have any indication of
this happening in any of the 26,002 polling stations which were involved in the
2012”
Responding directly to Dr. Bawumia’s definition, he also said, ““I
have heard of it. This is the first time over-voting has been defined that way
in my 34 years of observing elections in this country.”
On his part, then
EC Boss Afari Djan, on 3rd June, 2013, while in the witness box, seemed to have
aligned himself with the NDC position and even called it the classical
definition of over voting when he also stated to the court “I think I am not too
clear in my own mind what the connotation of over-vote is .My Lord I have a
problem with any definition which limits over-voting exclusively to what is on
the face of the pink sheet. Classical definition of over voting is where ballots
cast exceed the number of voters eligible to vote at the polling stations or on
the biometric register.”
The NPP during the Petition presented over 1,700
Pink Sheets to the court which indicated that the number of ballots counted were
more than those authorised to vote on the face of the pink sheet and called for
an annulment of such Polling Stations, a decision which would have on its own
overturned the declaration of John Mahama as President. Based on the definitions
given by the EC and the NDC, the court rejected this call and the petition in
general. |
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