The Electoral Commission (EC) has said that it has replaced the pink sheet that was signed by polling agents before the ballots were counted in the Kumawu by-election.
The EC’s Director of Electoral Services, Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, told TV3 that the electoral officer who supervised the signing of the pink sheet did not follow the proper procedure and that both the NPP and NDC agents also erred by signing before the results were declared.
He said: “Our officer should have ensured that they completed the part she was referring to before she moved on to another issue. The agents also made a mistake by signing the results when they had not seen the ballot papers counted. So our officer was wrong and so were the agents of both NPP and NDC. It is important to note that it was not only one party agent who signed, both of them did. We have changed that sheet with another one.”
The incident happened at the Oyoko Methodist Primary School polling station No F360203 in the Kumawu Constituency where an electoral officer named Norbert allegedly forced polling agents to sign the pink sheet before the close of polls.
The reason behind his action is still unknown.
The NDC regional chairman, Nana Akwasi, expressed concern that the EC had to change the pink sheet before the end of the election to prevent any violence.
The Kumawu by-election was held on May 23, 2023 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) following the death of Mr. Philip Basoah of the NPP who was buried on Saturday.
Four candidates contested in the by-election: Ernest Yaw Anim of the NPP, Akwasi Amankwaa of the NDC, and two independent candidates with the same name: Kwaku Duah.
The by-election attracted leading members of both parties to campaign in the constituency.
Kumawu also saw a massive improvement on its internal roads in recent weeks.
