The Electoral Commission has warned political party agents to strictly abide by the rules outlined for their observation of the Votes Transfer Exercise.
The Commission said it will not hesitate to request the withdrawal of Agents who disrupt the Transfer process emphasizing transparency and accountability remain the hallmark of their activities.
“We strongly urge the Agents of Political Parties to abide by the rules and refrain from any form of interference which could lead to violence as witnessed over the last few days.
“We urge the leaders of the Political Parties to educate their Agents on the Commission’s laws prior to assigning them duties as Observers of the various electoral activities,” parts of a statement issued by the EC on June 4 read.
The commission said observers are only to take records of the issues they may have during their observance of the votes transfer exercise and deal with it through available legal or administrative processes.
Additionally, the agents are not to prevent any Applicant from being registered as a Voter.
The EC explained that the agents can however challenge the registration of applicants through the challenge process embedded in the law “by applying to the District Registration Review Committees (DRRC) set up in all Districts to review the challenge cases from the Voter Registration Exercise.
“Similarly, where Political Party Agents, as OBSERVERS, have any issue with the Transfer of Votes of any particular voter, the lawful thing to do is to use the window of the Voters Exhibition Exercise to object to a Voter’s name on the Voters Register, on the grounds that the Applicant is not resident or ordinarily resident in the area where he/she intends to vote. (Regulation 23(2)(c) of the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2016 (C.I. 91)).
“The exercise to Transfer Votes is governed by Regulation 22 of the Public Elections Regulations, 2020 (C.I. 127). Regulation 22 does not provide Political Party Agents or any other OBSERVERS with the right to prevent voters who apply to transfer their votes under the law. The Commission would like to repeat: Political Party Agents do NOT have any right or authority under the law to prevent a Voter who wants to transfer his/her vote under Regulation 22 of C.I. 127,” the statement added.
The Electoral Commission rescinded its decision to prevent political party agents from observing the transfer of votes exercise, following stakeholders’ concerns about their initial decision.
“Following internal discussions and in consideration of the concerns of some stakeholders, the Commission has decided to revert to its decision made at IPAC.
“The Commission has directed its Officers at the Districts to allow Agent of Political Parties to observe the Transfer of Votes Exercise with effect from tomorrow Wednesday, 5th June 2024,” portions of the release read.
Below is the full statement
