Even banks commit transpositional errors – Nana Ato Dadzie

Nana Ato Dadzie, spokesperson of the legal team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has suggested that transpositional errors was not the preserve of electoral officers, apparently banks also committed it, he has said.

Dr. Afari-Gyan, Electoral Commissioner and witness for the Electoral Commission in the hearing of the Presidential Election Petition, this week admitted electoral officials committed transpositional errors. He said it was a major challenge faced in the 2012 elections.

The error occurs when a figure or votes for one candidate is accidentally be given to another if care is not taken in arranging the candidates as it is on the ballot paper.

It could also occur when transposing the score from the pink sheet entered at the polling station onto the collation sheet at the center.

For example if a candidate got 14,000 it could mistakenly be transposed to read 1,400, he illustrated.

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, witness for the petitioners on 30th April during cross-examination by Tsatsu Tsikata said transpositional or administrative errors in the 2012 general elections affected “somebody’s presidency".

Nana Ato Dadzie speaking on Muliti TV and Joy Fm’s Newsfile has dismissed this claim.

He said Dr. Afari-Gyan during his testimony explained a significant difference that rectified the possibility of such errors.

The difference was in the kind of counting that occurred at the polling station and the collation center, the lawyer said.

To the understanding of the NDC lawyer, at the polling station level counting could be just once, but at the count at the collation center it could go on several times, about “29 times”.

This was done until transpositional errors were detected and rectified by all the parties.

The results are then transmitted to the regional office of the EC and onward to its national headquarters. In effect “transpositional error vanishes at the collation center,” he asserted.

He added that for Dr. Bawumia claim was therefore “a ridiculous situation”.

In an attempt at further clarity, he contrasted electoral transpositional errors to a similar practice in the banks.

He said although banks officially close by five o'clock pm, the staff stayed on until late into the night to check for transpositional errors.

“There is a transpositional error. The account will not balance. They check and check until they detect the error”, he contrasted.

The NDC spokesperson said with “maybe one or two“ exceptions these errors cannot move beyond the collation center.

Kweku Baako, managing editor of the New Crusading Guide believed the gravity of these so-called errors could not be discounted.

“Are you aware that a similar situation [transpositional errors] led to the defeat of Isaac Amu”, he quizzed.

It is not just an error by itself, he concluded.

Both panelists nonetheless said it was up to the Supreme Court to decide on the issue