Posted on 03.08.2023 at 13:08 by Linda Manga
The Gabonese analyst demonstrated how the use of the single ballot can lead to double or triple votes.
According to a demonstration by Mays Mouissi, “ the common ballot papers by party, linking the choice of the presidential candidate and the legislative candidate, even if the independents will have individual ballot papers, raise concerns about the operation, relevance and fruitfulness of the new voting system », get up on the Gabon Review website. Indeed, Mays Mouissi takes the example of a voter wanting to vote, as a first option, an independent presidential candidate and, as another choice, a CEO candidate in the legislative elections. The PDG ballot linking the two elections, this voter will end up also voting for Ali Bongo, PDG candidate who was not his choice for the presidential election, ie 3 votes in total.
First case :
More explicitly, Mays Mouisi assumes a voter from Libreville wanting to vote for the independent candidate Raymond Ndong Sima in the presidential election, and for Alex Bernard Bongo Ondimba of the CEO in the legislative elections. “On the day of the vote, this voter will take the ballot where only the photo of Raymond Ndong Sima appears. At that time, he will not have yet voted for the general election. To vote in the legislative elections, he will have to take another ballot showing the photo of a legislative candidate. However, the ballots of several legislative candidates show the photo of their party’s presidential candidate and the vote of one leads to the vote of the other. Thus, if this voter were to choose as deputy the candidate Alex Bernard Bongo Ondimba, the PDG candidate for the legislative elections in his constituency, this would also mean choosing Ali Bongo Ondimba as President of the Republic since the vote is linked. However, this voter will have already voted for Raymond Ndong Sima in the presidential election. In this context, this voter will have voted 3 times. Twice in the Presidential (for Raymond Ndong Sima and Ali Bongo Ondimba) and once in the legislative elections (for Alex Bernard Bongo Ondimba)“, demonstrates Mays Mouisi.
Second case:
Another voter voting Geoffroy Foumboula Libeka Makosso (independent) in the legislative elections then Ali Bongo in the presidential election will also vote, in fact, for the PDG candidate in the legislative elections. That’s 3 more votes. The demonstrative example of Mays Mouissi: “Let’s say that a voter from the 3rd arrondissement – 2nd seat of Libreville, decides to vote for the independent candidate Raymond Ndong Sima in the Presidential election. On the day of the vote, this voter will take the ballot where only the photo of Raymond Ndong Sima appears. At that time, he will not have yet voted for the general election. To vote in the legislative elections, he will have to take another ballot showing the photo of a legislative candidate. However, the ballots of several legislative candidates show the photo of their party’s presidential candidate and the vote of one leads to the vote of the other.
Thus, if this voter were to choose as deputy the candidate Alex Bernard Bongo Ondimba, the PDG candidate for the legislative elections in his constituency, this would also mean choosing Ali Bongo Ondimba as President of the Republic since the vote is linked. However, this voter will have already voted for Raymond Ndong Sima in the presidential election. In this context, this voter will have voted 3 times. Twice in the Presidential (for Raymond Ndong Sima and Ali Bongo Ondimba) and once in the legislative elections (for Alex Bernard Bongo Ondimba). »
Mays Mouissi finds these situations problematic. Therefore, a request for urgent clarification, to the CGE, is resolutely necessary on these changes in the rules of the electoral game a few weeks before the ballot, which according to him open the door to fraud. To Michel Stéphane Bonda, president of the CGE, to carry out practical work (TP) to clarify and demonstrate the relevance and operationality of the new voting methods, announced on July 31, at the end of a meeting plenary of the structure he supervises.
