Somali Presidential Candidates to Appoint “Verifiers to Prevent Electoral Fraud”

[Deeq A.]

Somalia presidential candidates agree on prevention of electoral fraud when the count assistants read out names on ballot papers.

Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — The sheer number of Somalia presidential candidates raises suspicions about electoral fraud when counting votes during the presidential election on 15 May.

A campaign manager for a presidential candidate told Puntland Post that several presidential candidates would recommend the appointment of verifiers when votes are being read out.

“We need verifiers to double-check votes cast for each presidential candidate. If the person who reads out the votes sympathises with a presidential candidate, he can intentionally misread the name on the ballot paper in favour of another presidential candidate” the campaign manager said.

The election committee will appoint count assistants. The Speaker of the Somalia Parliament Adan Mohamed Nur was a member of Himilo Qaran, a party led by Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a former president and a presidential candidate. “We have suspicions that Adan plans to appoint count assistants with instructions never to properly verify names on the ballot papers that the main count assistant will read out. All presidential candidates must agree to a process of appointing impartial count assistants” the campaign manager added. Ballot paper misreading is fraudulent practice used in some countries to rig elections.

© Puntland Post, 2022

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