In a surprising turn of events, the Electoral Commission (EC) has suspended the re-collation exercise in the Dome Kwabenya and Ablekuma North parliamentary constituencies.
This decision comes after the EC cited a lack of adequate pink sheets and unresolved disputes over key election documents.
The re-collation exercise was initially ordered by a High Court ruling, which mandated a review of election results due to alleged irregularities in nine constituencies, including Dome Kwabenya and Ablekuma North.
So far, the EC has successfully declared results in seven constituencies, all in favour of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
However, the re-collation process in Ablekuma North has been marred by challenges, primarily due to the returning officer’s inability to present the full complement of the required pink sheets.
Out of the total pink sheets expected, 62 remain outstanding, making it impossible to complete the re-collation process.
Similarly, in Dome Kwabenya, the returning officer revealed that pink sheets for three polling stations exist only in soft copy form.
Efforts to produce hard copies of these documents have been unsuccessful, with both the NPP and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) failing to provide the necessary records.
The NPP has attributed the absence of these pink sheets to violent disruptions during the initial collation process.
The Party representatives claim that their agents were assaulted, and critical documents were snatched and destroyed during the unrest.
Despite the suspension, the EC has assured stakeholders that it is committed to resolving the issues affecting the Dome Kwabenya and Ablekuma North constituencies.
The Director of Electoral Services at the EC, Benjamin Bano Bio, emphasized the commission’s commitment to upholding electoral integrity, noting that investigations are ongoing to address the missing documents and disputes in these constituencies.
This development comes after the NDC sought a court order to stop the EC from re-collating results in five constituencies, including Dome Kwabenya and Ablekuma North.
The party argued that the EC had no authority to re-collate and re-declare results after declaring its candidates winners in the election.
BY Daniel Bampoe