The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has described as false claims by the incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawase constituency, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, that a parliamentary ballot box in one of the polling stations in the his constituency had been stuffed with marked ballots.
“The Electoral Commission, working closely with the Security Services thoroughly investigated the incident and identified that a voter unscrupulously and unsuccessfully attempted to put in fake ballots into a Parliamentary ballot box. The fake ballots were identified based on the following discrepancies:
1. The serial numbers in the fake ballots did not tally with the counter foils in the original ballot paper booklet.
2. The fake ballots were much lighter in texture than the Commission’s original ballot papers.
3. The colours on the fake ballots were much fainter than that of the Commission.
4. The stamp at the back of the fake ballots was oval contrary to the Commission’s validating stamp”, a statement released by the Commission in part read.
The incident, as reported by Muntaka led to the suspension of voting in the affected polling stations. Voting resumed after the EC had conducted its investigations into the matter and made their findings known to the MP.
The EC worried about the incident says while it encourages the public to report instances of electoral malpractice, it was important for everyone to desist from issuing unverified statements that lead to unnecessary confusion and heightened tension.
“Such statements, especially, when coming from leaders do not augur well for the peace of the nation. The Commission urges all candidates to exercise decorum and verify information before issuing media statement”, the EC concluded.
Source: Ghana/Kasapafmonline.com/102.5 Fm
