The balloting for positions by presidential candidates for the 2024 general elections was stalled for close to an hour due to accusations of one of the balls used for the balloting being tampered with.
Director of Elections and IT of the National Democratic Congress, Dr. Omane Boamah, after the first round of balloting, raised concerns about one of the balls.
He pointed out that the ball had a distinguishing element at the junction between the glass and the yellowish base, making it different from the rest.
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Dr. Boamah emphasized that they could not determine when that particular ball entered the bowl. He argued that the fairness of the balloting process was compromised by the presence of this biased ball.
According to him, the EC had aimed to ensure an unbiased exercise by allowing the balloting to choose the sequence of positions on the ballot paper. However, if the mechanism to eliminate bias introduced a biased ball, it would undermine the fairness of the entire process.
Therefore, he proposed that the same papers that had not been destroyed should be folded into replacement balls and the first stage of the ballot should be repeated to ensure an unbiased process.
His assertion was not taken lightly by other representatives present. The New Patriotic Party representatives felt that Dr. Omane Boamah was accusing them of supporting bias.
They pointed out that at the commencement of the exercise, the balls were subjected to scrutiny by all parties, including the NDC. Each party, including the APC and LPG, examined the balls for size, nature, character, and weight.
The New Patriotic Party allowed the process to continue, and they were all present when the balls were opened and numbers were slotted in.
