MP GILLION’S SUCCESSFUL re-count of the Efate Rural total valid voter numbers was just the tip of the ice berg because there are bigger numbers to re-count like – the 548 ‘extra’ votes from Efate Rural Constituency, the 168 ‘extra’ votes from Ambae Constituency, plus several more other inconsistencies as reported by Transparency International Vanuatu in the Vanuatu 2016 Electoral Observation Report.
Transparency International Vanuatu had raised this concern on inconsistencies valid voter number to the Electoral Office in February; why has there been no detailed response from the Electoral Commission regarding the inaccuracies on the 2016 Electoral Official Results? TIV send a letter to the Electoral Commission on February the 4th requesting a clarification to the public on why the inconsistencies on the numbers in the Official Results and still there has not been anything done that we are aware of.
Worryingly, the 2016 Electoral Official Results is not the only one with inconsistencies, but the same can be said for the 2012 Electoral Official Results where TIV identified further inconsistencies.
We cannot just sit back and say that everything is alright because they are not, until we know the reasons why these things are happening then we can begin to say that everything is alright. We know that electoral roll is inaccurate, it is therefore an urgent priority to fix it and the authorities concerned are well aware of this fact.
The public, especially the voters, deserve the right to know of the reasons why there are inconsistencies, it is therefore important to set up a process in place that will provide the right information to the public when responsibility demands it.
Fighting corruption at all levels in society is the purpose of Transparency International Vanuatu (TIV); it is the reason why TIV exists in Vanuatu. And though TIV has cut down on the number of citizens it employs due to funding constraints it does not stop us from reporting on where, why, or what we believe is important to report on. For this reason, there are several concerns, and activities, that we have noted and we look forward to detail them further soon.
To view the 2016 Electoral Observation Report CLICK HERE.
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