Former EC director kicks against counting of special voting ballots

A former chief director at the Electoral Commission, has rejected calls by some Ghanaians that the commission should count votes cast during special voting on same day it is held.

The controversy surrounding declaration of the special voting has heightened over the past few days.

Three individuals, Dr. Kwame Amoako-Tuffour, Benjamin Arthur and Adreba Abrefa Damoah have sued the election regulatory body at the Supreme Court seeking among other reliefs, an order to compel the EC to declare the special voting results the same day it is held.

But speaking on 3FM’s Midday News, the former chief director at EC, Kwame Damoah explained why the suit should be dismissed. “We have never done it before, not that it is impossible but we have never done it for the special reason that, there is what in election administration we call ‘bandwagon syndrome’.

“If the result of an earlier activity is known to the public, there is the probability that people will be influenced to toe the same line so to give every contestant the equal opportunity, you keep it in safe custody and count it together with other ballots on the same day”.

He wondered why some person will express anxiety over the transparency and credibility of any election when stakeholders are heavily involved in the exercise “In the laws they have given provision for everybody to monitor and make sure you know step by step what is happening.

At the polling station you have your agent, at the counting Centre you have your agents so what is the fear, if you are complying with all of these things they should be the absolute trust”. The highest court of the country is however yet to sit on the case to determine the merit of it.