Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, the former chair of the Electoral Commission (EC), has challenged the choice to annul legally cast ballots in contested areas rather than have fresh elections.
Dr. Afari-Gyan is of the opinion that in order to authentically reflect the will of the people, elections in contested areas should be redone.
He emphasized that it is wrong and undermines the democratic process to throw away legal ballots.
Speaking outside the Ghana Bar Association’s Annual General Conference in Kumasi, the former chairperson of the EC reaffirmed that legitimately cast ballots in these situations should not be disregarded.
“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.”
Source: Citinewsroom