Former Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, has criticized the practice of canceling valid ballots in disputed areas instead of organizing a rerun.
He believes that, elections in contested areas should be rerun to ensure that the true will of the people is represented.
Dr. Afari-Gyan argued that discarding validly cast ballots compromises the democratic process and is unacceptable.
Speaking at the Annual General Conference of the Ghana Bar Association in Kumasi, he emphasized that valid ballots should never be dismissed in such situations.
“Another implication is that it is not acceptable to cancel out some validly cast ballots. In some places, sometimes called wasted votes.
“In Nigeria, there is a doctrine of wasted votes that is used and they throw away a lot of ballots and discarding. It is not the correct thing to do. When you cancel the ballots, you may be punishing some people for no offence whatsoever. They have not committed any offence.”
Dr Afari Gyan intimated that the “right thing to do is to rerun the election for the people to decide. The decision is the people’s decision.
“It is not the election officials’ decision. It is not the judge’s decision. The democratic election is the people who decide.”
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