Voting Process: Otokunor’s Manipulation Charge Against EC Fatuous – John Boadu Jabs | Politics

The claims of the Deputy Secretary General of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Boamah Otokunor, that the Electoral Commission (EC) planned to give away a certain position on the ballot in this year’s elections to the ruling party were not only absurd, but also laughable. .

However, for John Boadu, secretary general of the New Patriotic Party (PNP), the opposition party’s claim does not surprise him, as it appears to be its commercial value in the December elections.

Otokunor is reported to have alleged in an interview earlier this week that there was a calculated attempt by the EC to mark the balls that had the favorite position of number 4 so that representatives of the ruling party could easily identify them; but that did not materialize.

“The EC is giving us reasons all the time to believe that it is doing everything possible to encourage the ruling PNP to retain power, but we are very vigilant … The EC official in charge of the voting process who will determine which party goes first to choose a number that will determine the official position of a party on the ballot, he helped the PNP select the number 4 and they started saying 4 more for Nana …

“… Again he wanted to make sure that the PNP chose the fourth position on the ballot and so he decided to take the balls out and mark that particular ball with the fourth position, but due to the alarm I gave, the EC official returned confused and could not do it, so the PNP ended up choosing the first position on the ballot ” he claimed.

But talking about Ok FMis Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, John Boadu rather accused the opposition NDC of criticizing the EC’s attempt to ensure transparency in the voting process, taking into account the need to observe COVID-19 security protocols.

Describing the National Executive of the NDC as a confused politician, he explained how impractical and ridiculous Otukunor’s claims sounded.

“… all at once, he alleges that the voting process was skewed to favor the PNP candidate, President Akufo-Addo, while in the same vein he asserts that our position on the ballot will go against us …

“What even makes Otokunor’s claim extremely fatuous is that the nuclear power plant in the first stage chose number 4; what it means is that we will be the fourth political party to have our turn to draw a number or figure that will be our final position on the ballot.

“So, assuming without admitting that the EC has marked one of the balls with a particular number for the attention of the nuclear power plant, three parties will have the opportunity to go through the process before it is the turn of the nuclear power plant …

“And, curiously, the first three representatives of the party will miss that marked ball and the NPP will be able to choose it. And what is the guarantee that only the PNP will be lucky enough to draw that marked ball? How can anyone conspire to manipulate a voting process in such an impractical way? How sensible is this? Don’t you think it is absurd for someone to think that way? What is the meaning of this statement? “ I ask.

While admitting that there was some form of novelty in this year’s procedure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the PNP Clerk-in-Chief was emphatic that the processes that led to the final placement on the ballot were very transparent.

Therefore, for any political party to accuse the electoral body of attempted manipulation simply defies logic.

“….. in the past the voting process was a bit messy as it was a first come first serve approach …

“As a result, we devised ways to do it in two stages. The first one is who goes before the others to collect from the bowl … After that, we move on to the order of drawing the final placement on the ballot ”.

“What changed a bit in the process this year is the Coronavirus pandemic because at the beginning, the EC will put all the numbers in the bowl and then the various political parties will rush to choose which figure or number ensures their position on the ballot. “, John Boadu explained.