By Nasratu Kargbo
Member of Parliament representing constituency 046 in Koinadugu District Daniel Koroma has emphatically condemned Clause 85 (2)(b) of the proposed Public Elections Bill that gives the Chief Electoral Commissioner the right to decide on whether or not to cancel overvoting in certain polling stations.
The MP on the 13 July 2022 said that clause 85(2)(b) gives the commission the discretion to decide on overvoting, highlighting that the word “May” gives the electoral commissioner the discretion to cancel or ignore cases of overvoting to either benefit or disadvantage a particular party.
MP Koroma read clause 85 (2) (b) which states that “The Electoral Commission may, in the case of parliamentary or local council elections, where the result of the votes cast at a polling station- (a) exceed the number of registered voters; and (b) may affect the overall result in the electoral area, schedule another election at a date to be fixed by the Electoral Commission”.
He praised the other aspect of the clause which is 85(1) of the proposed bill that says where the total vote cast exceeds the number of registered voters in a particular polling station, the election in that polling station should be considered null and void.
He noted that overvoting cannot be done without the knowledge and concurrence of the presiding officer, therefore, he proposed that a penalty be set aside for the presiding officer in charge of a polling station where there is overvoting. He added that whether or not the overvoting affects the election, the officer in charge should be punished.
The Leader of Government Business representing constituency 019 Mathew Sahr Nyuma stated that clause 85 has two provisions, explaining that the first clause is mandatory whilst the other is conditional.
He explained that in certain stations where there is overvoting, there might not be a need to cancel the votes. He made an example that if a winner has a total of 110 whilst the runner-up has 55 votes, and overvoting is 10, he noted that there would be no need to cancel the votes. Nyuma emphasized that 85 (b) is conditional, taking into consideration the extent of how the baring of the overvoting affects the total result.
The Speaker of Parliament Dr. Chernor Abass Bundu said “I have had an experience of how overvoting was treated in this country” he highlighted that in 1996 and 2007 there were gross cases of overvoting. He noted that the presiding officer in 1996 had stated that he would hive off the excesses votes and still maintain a hundred percent turnout. Whilst in 2007 when citizens raised concerns, the then commissioner referred Sierra Leoneans to the police.
“There was no law that gave the electoral commission the power to do anything about overvoting,” said the Speaker. He said the bill, therefore, seeks to address the problem of overvoting.
“It is incumbent on this parliament to get it right so that there is no repetition of over-voting again,” said the Speaker.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (15/07/22)
