BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
THE Solomon Islands Electoral Commission (SIEC) has recently clarified an issue raised on social media regarding the alleged inconsistence of ballot paper signatures.
The SIEC made the response after the issue was posted on the IUMI TOK FORUM Facebook page over the inconsistence ballot paper signatures in the 2019 National General Election.
The issue of the inconsistence ballot paper signatures was raised by one of the counting agents during the 2019 elections in Auki, where the agent posted the matter on the IUMI TOK FORUM Facebook page.
A former election counting officer, Campion Ohasio, claimed that, based on his observation, the ballot paper signatures were not consistent during the counting process and called for answers from the SIEC.
He posted on the forum that some ballots have stamps with signatures, while some ballots only have signatures without a stamp, and some ballots only have stamps without signatures.
The concern officer said that he has to stop during the counting process while doing the counting but was told later by electoral officials (EO) that either of the three ways is equally correct.
“To this day, I’m still asking the question as to why a ballot paper can have three alternative ways to validate it, while the presiding officer (PE) already had at his disposal his or her pen for signature and the electoral stamp. It still does not make sense,’’ questioned the former counting officer.
Meanwhile, based on the SUNDAY ISLES inquiry into the matter, a statement from the SIEC clarifies that it can be the signature of any mark but must be the official mark of the presiding officers (PO).
According to the SIEC statement, a form is usually given to the presiding officers (PO) to put their official marks on the ballot papers, which can be a signature, any mark, the stamp, a secret code, or any mark.
“In the process, there is a form that was given to presiding officers (PO) to put their official marks on, which can be a signature or any mark, or it could be just the stamp, a secret code, or any mark. So, it really depends on what is marked on the form as an official mark. It does not say a signature but an official mark. I hope this explains the inconsistency,’’ the SIEC statement said.
