The Coalition of Domestic election Observers (CODEO) has expressed satisfaction with the latest Supreme Court ruling ordering the Electoral Commission (EC) to create a portion on the collation forms for all parties and including returning officers to append their signatures after results are collated.
In an interview with Citi News, the National Coordinator of CODEO, Albert Arhin said the ruling was a good for Ghana’s democracy.
He entreated the EC, Political parties and other major actors in the electoral process to respect the ruling and act accordingly.
“It is something we initially took part and were part of that decision and so now it has come to fruition, I think we all should be happy and the parties themselves should also be happy because it is going to lay bare everything – the parliamentary, the presidential,” Mr. Arhin said.
Court’s order
The Justices asked the EC to provide all candidates and their representatives a copy of the signed collated results at the various collation centres.
The order followed a suit by a private legal practitioner, Kwesi Nyame-Tsease Eshun.
To avoid another election petition, an Accra-based legal practitioner filed a writ against the EC and the Attorney-General (AG) at the Supreme Court.
The plaintiff, Mr. Kwesi Nyame-Tsease Eshun, was seeking the true and proper interpretation of articles 42, 43, 45 (C) and 51 of the 1992 Constitution, especially Article 45 (C) which mandates the Commission “to conduct and supervise all public elections and referenda,” implying that a duty bestowed on the EC to conduct such elections in a free, fair, transparent and credible manner.
The plaintiff also asked the Supreme Court to declare that “the failure of the EC to make clear provisions in C.l. 94, prescribing the detailed steps that the returning officer at the Constituency Collation Centre shall methodically take to collate the total valid votes cast for each of the contesting presidential candidates, and to enter same in the relevant forms, namely, the Certificate to be endorsed on the Writ, Form One E. L. 1 B and Presidential Elections-Result Collation Form.”
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