[ 2016-08-22 ]

Alexander Afenyo Markin, MP for Effutu Constituency

Afenyo Markin raises alarm over EC proxy vote
Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu Constituency
in the Central Region, Alexander Afenyo Markin,
has asserted that a section of the Electoral
Commission’s (EC’s) statement about the proxy
voting application has the tendency for election
rigging.

According to him, in as much as the EC wants to
be fair to all the political parties, its
activities will indirectly favour the party in
government.

Speaking on Okay Fm, Mr Afenyo Markin indicated
that there is a bit of mischief about the
statement issued by the EC concerning the proxy
exercise.

His fear was based on the fact that the
commission had not come out clearly with its
explanation about the proxy going to pick the
application forms on behalf of the eligible voter
who cannot vote during the polls.

To him, the usual practice is that it is the
eligible voter who for some reason cannot vote,
should have been the one to go for the application
forms; thus, even if the proxy should go for the
application forms, the process of submission of
the forms is not clear.

The Electoral Commission has begun a 40-day
exercise to accept application for proxy voting by
eligible voters during the general election on
December 7.

The exercise, which started Wednesday, August 17
and ends on September 26, 2016, will enable an
eligible voter to delegate someone to vote on
his/her behalf when he/she is unable to be present
during the presidential and the parliamentary
polls.

The CI 75-backed process will ensure that when a
voter assigns a proxy, that individual’s data is
retrieved, reviewed and verified for the proxy to
vote, after which the proxy would go to his own
polling station to cast his own vote.

But Afenyo Markin has urged the leadership of his
party – the NPP – to seek further
clarification from the EC.

“NPP has stayed in opposition for eight years
and so we are vigilant and wild awake. The party
should seek further clarification on that, where
the proxy voter can pick the application form for
the eligible voter who cannot vote due to certain
circumstances; we should be vigilant about the
proxy exercise of the EC,” he urged.

“Rigging of election is not one day event; it
is a process that is deliberately planned and
mature for execution. The statement the EC issued
about the proxy voting has a bit of mischief,”
he noted.

Source - dailyguideafrica.com

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