The Electoral Commission says it is inaccurate the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) claim that there were some errors specifically in relation to the party’s logo on the parliamentary ballot papers sent to the Ashanti region Sunday.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we have added the NPP’s official logo as it appears on the party’s letterheads” – EC
Confusion broke out at the Ashanti regional office of the Electoral Commission(EC) after the opposition NPP refused to accept the parliamentary ballot papers delivered to the region.
According to the NPP, the ballot papers did not have the NPP initials printed on it like the other political parties, a situation it said called for concern.
The ballots for the region arrived in Kumasi last night but representatives of the NPP that inspected the package after delivery rejected it.
In statement issued by the commission Monday, to react to the issues raised by the NPP, it said “For the Parliamentary Notice of Polls and Ballot Sheets, the New Patriotic Party specifically indicated their satisfaction with the logo as processed for printing,” insisting that the party therefore has no grounds to raise objections after delivery.
The statement further said “…High ranking officers of the party visited the printing houses regularly to monitor the process. At no point did they raise any objections about the NPP’s logo as it was being printed.”
The commission noted it is only for the Presidential Ballot that the NPP has specifically requested that its acronym should be added to the logo, which it stated has been done.
Below is the full statement by the EC
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[Monday November 14, 2016]
CLARIFICATION: POLITICAL PARTY LOGO ON BALLOT SHEETS
The Commission’s attention has been drawn to reports in sections of the media suggesting that the Commission had printed a ‘wrong logo’ for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on the Parliamentary ballot sheets. We would like to place on the records that the claim is entirely inaccurate. Below are the facts:
1. All Political Parties participating in this year’s elections worked closely with the Commission’s Directorate of Electoral Services to agree on the acceptable logo for their parties to be printed on the Notice of Polls and the ballots sheets.
2. For the Parliamentary Notice of Polls and Ballot Sheets, the New Patriotic Party specifically indicated their satisfaction with the logo as processed for printing.
3. During the printing process, not only did the party have its representatives at the printing houses at all material times, high ranking officers of the party visited the printing houses regularly to monitor the process. At no point did they raise any objections about the NPP’s logo as it was being printed.
4. For the avoidance of doubt, we have added the NPP’s official logo as it appears on the party’s letterheads. It is clear from the pictures that the party uses these two versions of their logo interchangeably. Both do not include the party’s acronym as now being claimed.
5. We would like to further place on the record that it is only for the Presidential Ballot that the NPP has specifically requested that its acronym should be added to the logo, and that has been done.
6. Therefore, it cannot be accurate that the Commission committed any design or printing errors as being speculated or claimed.
Thank you.
Signed:
ERIC KOFI DZAKPASU
Head of Communications
