Polling station ransacked by thugs – NEC cancels election results at Constituency 110

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 25 August 2019:

The National Electoral Commission (NEC) has  cancelled the results of the re-run elections in constituency 110 in Freetown. Votes cast at all polling centres have been tallied by NEC, with the exception of one centre where all ballot papers and equipment were destroyed yesterday by thugs.

It is not certain which group of political party supporters destroyed the polling materials and drove away voters, but tonight questions are being asked as to whether the police simply turned a blind eye, or were unable to provide security at the polling station.

But should NEC have cancelled all of the results they have so far counted and tallied? Should they not have simply set a date for fresh election at the destroyed polling station?

One eye witness who was at the NEC Tally Centre at Wellington said: “I was in the NEC Tally Centre yesterday at Wellington. All the RR Forms entered where without any problems. The Table displayed on the wall  before us shows APC winning the Election with 43% and SLPP 40%.

“The decision to announce the results is the responsibility of the Commission as they were to take a decision on the Angola Town saga in which the SLPP  thugs disrupted the entire centre. To me, 93% of centers entered is a solid reason for the Commission to announce the results, since the remaining 7% is not materially important.

“But NEC by their press statement released this morning, they’re looking at the number of voters which is about 2000 in a mist of 38% Turnout.

“Angola Town  is the stronghold of the Opposition APC Party, the home of Hon. Kadie Davies (APC candidate). It was deliberately destroyed by SLPP Arata because of the expected victory for the APC”.

There are mixed reactions to today’s decision by NEC to cancel all the results of the by-election at Constituency 110 that have so far been counted and tallied. Many ruling SLPP party supporters say that NEC is justified in cancelling the results.

The opposition APC strongwoman – Dr Sylvia Olayinka Blyden said: “There is absolutely no legal basis for NEC’s decision to cancel those results. The only legal step that is correct is to re-run the election in the single polling centre affected. That’s all. That is what the Law allows for. Cancellation of the entire results lacks a legal justification”.

This is the Chief Electoral Commissioner – Mohamed Nfa Alie Conteh speaking on AYV TV today:

This is NEC’s statement:

 

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.