Refusal of Chief Election Officer to hand over SoPs is violation of law

Dear Editor,

The current controversy about public access to Statement of Polls (SoPs) is governed by the Access to Information Act 2011. Sections in that Act, in aggregation, make it manifest, and compellingly so, that “any member of the public” is entitled “as of right”, “to access” information contained in a “public record” in the possession of the Elections Commission being a “Constitutional Commission” which is a “Public Authority”. SoPs, once posted up at polling stations, accessible to members of the public, are “Public Records” which are “conclusive evidence” of their contents, according to the Representation of the People Act. Duplicate originals are sent by the Presiding Officers to the Returning Officer of each Region and to the Chief Election Officer for the official record of GECOM.

That the CEO is required to post that “record” on GECOM’s “website” compounds his refusal to deliver the SoPs as requested and is a violation of the law.

Yours faithfully,

Justice Charles R. Ramson SC, OR

Commissioner of Information