THE Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) has debunked claims of alleged stuffing of ballots in Asawase Constituency of Ashanti Region of the country.
Mubarak Muntaka, Member of Parliament from the Asawase Constituency, had alleged a parliamentary ballot box in one of the polling stations was stuffed with marked ballots.
But the electoral body on Tuesday said it was single case where a voter attempted to put in fake ballots into the parliamentary ballot box.
This, the commission emphasised was established while working closely with the security operatives to identify the discrepancies.
According to the commission, the serial numbers in the fake ballots did not tally with the counter foils in the original ballot booklet.
It stated that the fake ballots were much lighter in texture than the commission’s original ballot papers.
Also, the colours on the fake ballots were said to be much fainter than that of the electoral commission.
Moreover, the commission discovered the colours behind the fake ballots were oval contrary to the commission’s validating stamps.
“The electoral commission, working closely with the security services thoroughly investigated the incident and identified that a voter unscrupulously and unsuccessfully attempted to put in fake ballots into a parliamentary ballot box,” the EC stated.
The commission encourages the public to report suspected instances of electoral malpractices.
In a statement, it urged the public to desist from issuing unverified proclamations that might lead to unnecessary tension and cause confusion.
Meanwhile, from the 275 Constituency Collation Centres, only 38 results have been announced with the incumbent President in an early lead.
Though no official figure has been released by the electoral body, reports from the local media says, Nana Akufo-Addo, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate has so far polled 574, 018 votes from the 38 results collated while the major contender, John Mahama, who is contesting under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) 495,171 as of the time of filing this report.
NPP General Secretary, John Boadu also claimed the party’s candidate was leading the opposition with 6,085,708 valid votes, a figure he stated represents about 52.72 per cent.
Olugbenga heads the Investigations Desk at The ICIR. Do you have a scoop? Shoot him an email at [email protected]. Twitter Handle: @OluAdanikin