Parliamentary candidate calls for double check before declaring election

results

Juaso (Ash), Oct. 5, GNA - Mr De Graft Kwaku Fokuo, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Candidate for Asante-Akim South Constituency, has called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to crosscheck the photo ballot papers that would be counted with names on the voters register in all polling stations.

He said this system if adopted, even though, would delay election results, it would check malpractices in the voting exercise in the December elections.

Mr Fokuo, who was speaking to NDC members, when Prof. John Evan Atta Mills, the Party's Flag Bearer, paid a courtesy call on Nana Owusu Akyeaw Prempeh II, Juasohene and his elders at Juaso at the weekend, said the various political party polling agents at the stations should be allowed to get nearer to the polling officials to ensure that the names were ticked when the ballot papers were issued to voters. He said if all political parties accepted this suggestion then NDC polling agents should refuse to sign the election results if it was not applied.

Mr Fokuo said the aim was to end the system whereby some people managed to get ballot papers, dump them in the ballot boxes to fraudulently increase the number of votes for their candidates. This would go a long way to prevent people who have lost elections from crying foul that there had been electoral fraud, thus reducing tensions after elections.

Nana Prempeh said while the Constitution barred chiefs from dabbling in politics, it was important that politicians in the same vein did not involve themselves in chieftaincy disputes to create confusion in some traditional areas.

Nana Prempeh expressed concern about the refusal of some politicians to give recognition to gazetted chiefs for no apparent reason.

He pointed out that since such a negative attitude of those politicians only fuelled tensions in some traditional areas, they should recognise the chieftaincy institution by giving due respect to chiefs.