Dear Editor,
In what world does a party that claims it is leading by 30,000 votes ask for a recount and most ludicrously for a partial and limited recount in three regions that cannot swing the election (Regions 1, 2 and 8)? It defies logic and reeks of using the electoral challenge to buy time. Region 1, 2 and 8 had 5201, 17979 and 2570 votes in the 2011 election for a total of 25,750 votes. The PPP is asking for a partial recount of some ballot boxes in these regions. The coalition says it trails by 24,229 votes with 88% of SOPs counted. Unless the PPP believes it will win 100% of the votes in these regions, it should stop playing silly games. Sometimes while one has a legal right to a recount, one must also exercise basic logic and rudimentary common sense. The PPP has yet to refute the coalition’s numbers. Its own bizarre 30,000 advantage claim laughably excluded Regions 4 and 10. If the coalition is correct on its numbers, the PPP is clutching at straws and is simply buying time for what is obvious, while its supporters are being emotionally taken for a painful ride. If this turns out to be the case, it would be one final act of the Freedom House charlatans exploiting the rank and file PPP supporters for their own narrow selfish agendas. The other problem with these antics is that if the PPP loses, it makes for a terrible start to any post-election climate.
The coalition provided its numbers. It applied to all regions. The coalition announced it secured 182,176 votes versus 157,497 for the PPP based on 2025 Statements of Poll (SOPs) from all regions. The coalition said it was ahead by 24,229 votes. There are 2299 polling places so there are 2299 SOPs. Thus, the coalition does not have SOPs for 274 polling stations. Frankly, it is difficult to see how the outstanding 274 SOPs, will have a large average of voters per polling station.
The difficulty for the PPP is that if it is trailing with 88% of the SOPs already known and counted, it cannot realistically overcome the statistical hole it is already in because the returns for the 88% of the SOPs already confirm the PPP is trailing and is statistically incapable of mounting a sudden surge. I do not expect any marked deviation from the median with respect to voters per polling station or voters per SOP for the outstanding polling stations yet to be counted.
The problem with the coalition’s numbers is that they are not detailed enough. It would help the coalition’s case for validity if it conducted another press conference to provide the public with new numbers given it has now received additional SOPs. Those numbers should detail how many SOPs it received per region, the total number of votes each party received per region and details of the outstanding SOPs and where they are from, etc.
The ways things are unfolding, Gecom still does not know its head from its derrière, despite massive sums spent on this sideshow. Gecom has to be seriously reformed. The blame also rests with the political parties for making this institution the vaudeville act it has become. Just before the election, I openly challenged Gecom on the problems with the voters list and like the responsive organization it is, it never responded to my concerns. Here we are again in the same nightmare. Electoral reform has to be the first thing on the agenda for a new government. That reform has to seriously shake up the organization and the way it does business, and force it to report studiously to the public issues and concerns it has regarding the integrity of the electoral process.
Yours faithfully,
M Maxwell
