{"id":261683,"date":"2016-10-25T15:05:03","date_gmt":"2016-10-25T15:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=261683"},"modified":"2016-10-25T15:05:03","modified_gmt":"2016-10-25T15:05:03","slug":"special-voting-lawsuit-waste-of-energy-gabby-otchere-darko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/special-voting-lawsuit-waste-of-energy-gabby-otchere-darko\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Voting lawsuit waste of energy – Gabby Otchere Darko"},"content":{"rendered":"

A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Asare Otchere Darko has described the case filed at the Supreme Court for an order to compel the Electoral Commission to announce special voting results on the day it is held as a waste of energy.<\/p>\n

According to him, the focus should rather be on finding ample ways to secure the sealed ballot boxes till the Election Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we are wasting precious energy and focus on demanding for an early count of special votes. The focus rather should be on how to ensure total security of the sealed ballot box before it is counted along with all others after voting on December 7th<\/sup>,\u201d he said in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”k7bmJtM1pXwqSw5wMu8Znip4hEZCz4bF”]A member of the NPP, Dr. Kwame Amoako-Tuffuor and two others who dragged the EC to court<\/strong><\/a><\/span> over the issue argued that section 23 of the law which regulates the conduct of the 2016 general elections, C.I. 94, is inconsistent with article 49 of the 1992 constitution.<\/p>\n

The trio insisted that the special voting results \u201c\u2026ought to be counted and announced there and then on the date(s) of the special voting.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Gabby noted that the case would expose Ghana\u2019s security operatives who usually take part in this kind of voting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would anyone want to expose our security personnel, especially military personnel in the barracks, as having voted one way or the other? Would that not even influence a general hesitation towards voting against the incumbent?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabby further argued that announcing the special voting results was not done anywhere in the world, not even in developed countries.<\/p>\n

\"EC,
EC chair, Charlotte Osei<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFrankly, I cannot understand what the fuss on the counting of special votes is all about: \u00a0No where in the world is special or early voting counted on the day and before the general election date. The principle is sound: so that it will not prejudicially influence the general voting public one way or the other,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

What the C.I. 94 says <\/strong><\/p>\n

Per the C.I. 94 the returning officer shall at the end of the special voting:<\/p>\n