Observer seeks investigation of cancelled Osun guber poll

* To prevent recurrence in 2019

The Election Monitor (EM) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to consider conducting a forensic audit to determine the cause of the sharp increase in voided votes observed in the last governorship election in Osun State.

EM’s Coordinator, Mr. Abiodun Ajijola, made the call in Abuja at the public presentation of the “2018 Osun State Governorship Election Report”.

According to him, the 47,874 voided votes are so high and unusual for elections in Osun State, thus the need for critical examination of the development.

He added that it is important because it will help determine if there was any foul play or not and what can be done to ensure voided vote rates remain low in subsequent elections.

He said lots can be learnt in the Osun elections to guide the conducts of stakeholders so as to ensure the success and credibility of the 2019 general elections.

“It is clear that cancellations are critical and could have a significant effect on whether an election is concluded on the first ballot or not, it is important to take a deeper look into the reasons for cancellations of an election to ascertain that they were truly justified.

“However, it was observed that a possible cause of rejected votes could be having multiple thumbprints on a ballot paper which would void the vote.

“The following questions arise: what is the likelihood that a voter would thumbprint twice on the same ballot paper? Why would a voter do this?  If the voter had not voted it would have the same effect as voiding his/her own ballot. So, the question arises as to how ballot papers with more than one thumbprint come about?” Ajijola said.

He however said that INEC as an organisation made concerted efforts to give a level-playing field to all political parties during the Election Day activities.

He said, “The EM Accredited Observer Group’s position is that the 2018 Osun State Governorship Election (22nd September 2018) was very peaceful and generally well conducted and administered except for a few observed discrepancies.

“However, the re-run election (27th September 2018) fell below global standards for credible elections primarily as a result of the failure of security agencies to prevent the unlawful actions of political actors and thugs.

“The large number of voided votes (47,874) is of significant concern. The rate of voided votes of 6.22% is very high equating to a 42.7% increase from the voided vote rate in the 2014 Osun State Governorship Election and 98.7% increase from the voided vote rate of the 2015 Presidential Election in Osun State. Election Monitor is concerned about the possibility of intentional voiding of votes.”

While calling for the authentication of the cancellations for increased transparency, he recommended that a special form be created specifically to document details of the cancellations of elections in polling units.