Probe pre-marked ballot papers – NPP to EC

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has entreated election stakeholders to launch a probe into issues concerning markings detected on ballot sheets dispatched to some communities.

“We strongly condemn any attempt to manipulate the election materials and call on the appropriate authorities to investigate these acts immediately,” a statement dated Monday, November 21 urged.

According to a press release issued by NPP’s Acting General Secretary John Boadu, all political parties were given an opportunity to inspect the seals on the bags containing election materials for the 31 constituencies in the Northern Region.

The NPP said during the exercise, their representatives also requested to inspect the contents of the bags, including the ballot papers.

“They discovered that parliamentary ballot papers for Savelugu constituency arrived with the NDC candidate having his ballot column already marked, which, on voting day, could have been confused with a thumbprint. The consequence of this, if left unchecked, would have been that voters who cast their ballots for other candidates risked having their votes rejected,” the party lamented.

The statement pointed out that a similar objection was also raised against ballots for Wulensi.

“The EC subsequently took steps to return the ballots as rejected and for new ballot papers to be printed for the affected constituencies,” the statement said.

For them, the swift response by the EC was commendable; however the party executives have charged “representatives and agents to take time to inspect the entire ballot papers sent to the respective regions, districts, and constituencies”.