[38] Order 60 relates only to the Elections held on 2 March 2020. It was specifically introduced to cater for the various disputes and contentions that arose after polling day. The intention was to provide an open, transparent, and accountable recount of all the votes cast in those elections. The purpose was to assuage the contestations among the various parties, determine ‘a final credible count’, and remove certain difficulties or fill certain gaps in connection with the application of the provisions of the Representation of the People Act. The recount was to be conducted in the presence of representatives of political parties that contested the Elections, advisors to and members of GECOM and a range of other personnel. GECOM was to serve as the final arbiter of issues not resolved at lower levels in the established procedure. The CEO was to supervise the recount process. [39] The aim at transparency included a variety of measures. At each “workstation” where counting was to be carried out, there was to be installed a picture of the ballot box depicting the state in which it was delivered to the workstation and an audio feed of the recount process. An audio-visual facility was established in the Tabulation Centre broadcasting live the entire tabulation process. Order 60 carefully set out how the process should unfold. The result of the recount of each ballot box was to be recorded on a Statement of Recount signed by the representatives of each contesting party. The tabulation of the Statements of Recount was to be done at a central tabulation centre in an openly transparent manner. Once all the Statements of Recount were tabulated, the supervisor for tabulation was to ascertain and verify the entries therein and calculate totals, again in the presence of various personnel. This ascertained and verified matrix was to be signed by the District Coordinator for the District and the signed matrix was to be transmitted to the CEO whose responsibility it was to tabulate the matrices of the ten electoral districts and submit to the Commission a report together with a summary of observation reports for each District. GECOM would deliberate on this report and then determine whether it would request the CEO to use the data compiled as the basis for the submission of a report under section 96 of the Representation of the People Act.

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