Senior Presidential Advisor for Governmental Affairs, Dr. Valerie Esther Sawyerr, has publicly called on the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, to order a rerun of elections in 62 polling stations within the Ablekuma North Constituency.
In a strongly worded statement titled “The Saga of the Scanned Pink Sheets & Ablekuma North,” and shared with Citi News on Wednesday, June 11, Dr. Sawyerr challenged the integrity and transparency of the collation process in the constituency. She alleged serious electoral breaches, including the illegal use of scanned pink sheets submitted by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), in place of original carbonated forms that were destroyed during violent incidents at the collation centre on December 7–8, 2024.
According to her, only 219 out of 281 polling stations were validly collated using the standard carbonated forms. The remaining 62 polling stations were left without verifiable results due to the destruction of those forms.
Dr. Sawyerr expressed concern over what she described as a troubling shift in the EC’s procedures. She noted that while the EC’s Director of Elections, Dr. Benjamin Bannor Bio, initially refused to accept scanned pink sheets, this decision was later reversed by the EC’s Director of Training, Dr. Sereboe Quaicoe—an action she argues has no legal basis.
“On what authority does a Director of Training overturn the decision of a Director of Elections at such a critical point in the electoral process?” she queried.
She also revealed that despite protests from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), the EC went ahead to accept 42 scanned pink sheets submitted by the NPP. In an effort to legitimize the move, the EC brought in 17 presiding officers to verify the results. However, she noted that some of those officers could not authenticate the data on the scanned forms.
Dr. Sawyerr criticized the EC’s claim that all parties had agreed to the use of the scanned forms as false, branding it a “bold-faced lie,” and warned that such conduct undermines democratic principles and public confidence in the electoral process.
“No amount of ground stomping or symbolic gestures can make what is wrong… right,” she declared, calling on Jean Mensa to take decisive action to restore credibility to the electoral process by ordering a rerun in the affected polling stations.
She concluded her statement with an impassioned appeal for justice, accountability, and peace:
“The voice of the people must be heard. Let us tell the EC that enough is enough. I am for peace… Shalom.”
