UNC threatens EBC with court action

THE United National Congress remains concerned over how the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) is treating with the “spoilt ballots issue” and is considering taking the body to court if the matter is not handled to the party’s satisfaction. The UNC’s general secretary Davendranath Tancoo said Saturday that his party took precautionary steps and has written to the EBC on the matter.

“We were trying to avoid taking drastic steps but the integrity of the process taken by the EBC is our concern,” Tancoo said.

The UNC and other political parties have expressed concern over the EBC's move to destroy thousands of defective ballot papers. These were issued by the EBC to special electors in 40 electoral districts on November 20 and have since been considered spoilt.  

Tancoo said, “There should be no question mark about the process or about the integrity of the EBC, and I am concerned that there are 5,000 ballots out there that EBC claims to have destroyed and I have no way of knowing this.”

There are approximately 18,000 special electors in 40 electoral districts, and approximately 5,000 ballot papers considered spoilt were placed in envelopes, sealed and left with the returning officer and witnessed by parties involved in the election. They were to be taken back to the EBC.

The EBC on its own, he said without the returning officers present, removed ballots from envelopes and send back envelopes to the people to be reused. “What was required was to call parties together and agree or discuss and come to some sort of consensus on this matter,” Tancoo said.

The complaint is the ballot papers that have already been issued by the Government Printer and the Chief Election Officer accepted them as valid. “Therefore the Government Printer has no say over them anymore,” Tancoo said. “These valid ballot papers issued by the EBC are defective and now the EBC is depending on a rule as if the defect came from the printers’ error. You don't destroy a ballot. It should be marked ‘spoiled’, just like on election day, therefore, officers can account for it.”

The EBC acknowledged receipt of correspondence from the UNC and replied to the general secretary in writing on Saturday.

The reply outlined the EBC’s position on the issue of special ballots that additional markings will be deemed to be spoilt/defective ballots and will not be counted. The commissioner has retrieved all such special ballots and has replaced them so that the electoral process, and in particular, special voting, has not been compromised. "Elections rule 22(7) requires the government printer to certify that all spoilt ballot papers are destroyed. As such the commissioner shall request that the government printer destroy these defective ballot papers and provide certification of same.

"It should be emphasised that the retrieval of the spoilt/defective ballots and issuance of new special ballot papers occurred before any special elector received a ballot paper and before voting for special electors even commenced. Thus no special electors has been adversely affected."

The EBC said voting for special electors commences on Monday at the offices of the returning officers and from Tuesday at special polling stations established by the commission.

The letter states that further to the adequate provisions in the election rules to safeguard the integrity of the special voting process it will be overseen by representatives of the political parties. It also states that the commissioner acknowledges the request that the UNC be allowed to witness the destruction by the government printer of the spoilt/defective ballots and this request is being considered by the commission.