The Electoral Commissioner, Irfan Rahman met the press after the recount in Constituency no. 19. In a statement to the press, he said that he has asked the police to investigate on the matter of a ballot from Constituency No. 1 being found among the ballots of Constituency No. 19.
But three anomalies have been detected during this recount exercise. The Electoral Commissioner, Irfan Rahman has called for a police investigation at his press conference.
The three anomalies are as follows: Firstly, 73 missing ballots, that is, the count of 28,169 ballots in November 2019 but 28,096 ballots in 2022. The difference is 80 votes compared to 92 in 2019. Secondly, 1 ballot paper from Constituency no.1 was found in the sealed box of ballot papers from Constituency no.19. And thirdly, 2 other ballots papers were found not bearing the seal of the Electoral Commission.
Speaking to the press, Irfan Rahman has explained that after an election, the ballots are collected, sealed in opaque boxes and sent to the Special Mobile Force to be kept under high security as it has been done since 1970. These boxes would be reopened only under the order of the Supreme Court. The boxes are kept under three padlocks, one key to which remains in his possession.
Constituency No. 19 has 40 sealed boxes sent to GMD Atchia in Port Louis for recount. “In the 2019 elections, the Counting in 2019, by the Returning Officer, Mr. Moorghen showed a shortfall of 92 ballots, but in this latest Recount done by the elements of the Supreme Court, there is a difference of 80 ways. Petitioning a Recount is the most legitimate right of a defeated candidate, and can be requested on the day of the Counting. The Mauritius Recount Law is inspired from the English Electoral Law, where the petition must be made under the ‘Human Error’ factor. This human error cannot be equated with electoral fraud. All the counts are done manually so human error is not impossible,” he announced.
“This case of the intruder ballot is very serious” for Irfan Rahman. “We must open a police investigation to identify the culprits“. He asked for an investigation and called for the collaboration of the Returning Officer and his team. He hopes that the police will take this case seriously. As for the unsealed ballot papers, he said that he was only recently made aware of this and that it was up to the Returning Officer to respond, but that according to the Electoral Act, “a ballot paper not bearing the seal of the Electoral Commission cannot be counted under the Mauritius Electoral Act”.
He stated that after an election is held, it is the Returning Officer, who collects all the ballots to be sent to the Special Mobile Force (SMF) so that in case of a recount request, these ballots are available.
This practice has been going on since the 1970s. These ballots are kept in a high security Guard Room, equipped with three locks. The first key is kept with him. The second is in the possession of the chairman of the Electoral Supervisory Commission and the third is with the commander of the Special Mobile Force (SMF). An order from the Supreme Court is required to open the Guard Room to remove the sealed ballots.
He spoke about the insinuations by politicians against him and other officials in his team which he feels is unfair to the integrity and honesty of all officials after 2019 election. He said he leaves politics to politicians. “The integrity and honesty of civil servants have been cleared through this Recount,” he said.
He did not wish to answer questions from the press before all the petitions were heard by the Supreme Court. But he did answer a question that might be of interest to the press, “Why is there no Recount in other constituencies?” There are many factors and facts to be considered before a court-ordered Recount is accepted.
