NPP Walewale primary nullified after ballot snatching incident

Confusion marred the re-run of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Walewale constituency parliamentary primary on Monday, prompting the Electoral Commission (EC) to declare the election null and void.

The disruption occurred when an individual snatched ballot papers during sorting, resulting in some ballots being destroyed.

The EC has referred the matter back to the NPP to decide on the next steps, as the primary was an internal party event to select a nominee for the December parliamentary election.

The party is now tasked with fixing a new date for the election before the deadline for filing nominations at the end of the week.

Earlier, voting had proceeded smoothly following a change of venue in the morning.

However, the process took a chaotic turn during the sorting of ballots, which commenced around 4 p.m.

A man, identified by police as Kamara Bawah, allegedly grabbed several ballot papers and attempted to flee.

He reportedly destroyed some of the ballots before being apprehended by the police, who fired warning shots to restore order.

The ballot papers were subsequently taken to the police station, where party officials and the EC considered whether to continue counting.

After reviewing the damaged ballots, the EC decided to nullify the election results.

The police have since detained Kamara Bawah for causing damage to the ballot papers, and security has been reinforced within Walewale and surrounding areas to maintain order.

This re-run followed a ruling by the Tamale High Court, which annulled the results of the initial primary held in January due to irregularities, including impersonation and over-voting.

The court ordered a fresh election, which was originally scheduled for September 8 but postponed to Monday.

A total of 842 delegates were expected to vote in the re-run to determine the NPP’s candidate for the upcoming parliamentary elections.