In a “declaration of a vote” defeated by the CC majority, two judges said that the vote was free, but that it cannot be fair or transparent because of inherent failures in the counting process. The full CC ruling was read out at a ceremony this morning but the dissenting opinion was not read out or mentioned, as was missed by much of the press, although it is included in the text handed out and posted on the CC website: http://bit.ly/CCAc25
CC Judge Manual Frank, supported by CC Judge Albino Nhacassa, wrote: “The vote is free and all voters made their choice according to the dictates of their conscience, in strict observance of the law.
“The same cannot be said of what happened from the counting of votes and their tabulations, where various irregularities were pointed out, both by competitors and their representatives, as well as by accredited observers, putting the transparency of the electoral process in crisis.
“Unfortunately this situation is not isolated, given that it is repeated from election to election, which leads me to conclude that the irregularities that occurred in these elections are an inherent consequence of the organization, administration and management of our electoral processes.”
