More than 100 polling station executives, electoral area officers and constituency functionaries of the opposition New Patriotic Party in the Yendi Constituency have petitioned the party’s General Secretary, demanding an immediate audit of forms submitted as part of an ongoing internal party exercise.
The petitioners alleged that forms originally completed for them to be declared winners unopposed are not the same documents being used in the final summary currently with the Regional Representative.
According to the petitioners, there was no election conducted in several electoral areas and polling stations because the affected executives were endorsed to serve unopposed.
They explained that forms were duly filled and submitted for their names to be keyed into the official summary sheets for confirmation as winners, but claimed that the information contained in the summary being relied upon does not reflect the original submissions made by the Electoral Area Committees.
In the petition addressed to the General Secretary, the aggrieved members expressed what they described as “deep concern and dissatisfaction” over the alleged removal and replacement of names, including those of existing polling station executives, without consultation or due process.
They maintained that the party had directed Electoral Area Committees to submit agreed names in accordance with established guidelines and consensus reached among stakeholders.
The petitioners argued that coordinators and affected persons in the constituency later discovered discrepancies between the original forms submitted and the summary documents currently being used.
They described the development as arbitrary, unconsultative and unfair, warning that the situation could undermine confidence in the process and create disaffection among party grassroots members in the constituency.
The group therefore called on the party leadership to undertake a full audit of all forms as initially submitted and presented by the Electoral Areas.
They further demanded the restoration of all names forwarded by the committees, immediate steps to ensure sanity, transparency and fairness in the process, and measures to allow the committees to function effectively.
Copies of the petition were also forwarded to the Northern Regional leadership of the New Patriotic Party and the constituency executives for their attention and action.
Source: adomonline.com
