The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Saturday said its staff members accused dereliction of duty or violation of rules would be excluded from the vote audit and recount process.
A statement from the panel said polling station heads, who were responsible for signing and stamping result sheets and processing votes but did not discharge their duty properly, would be barred from the audit and recount of ballots.
The officers in charge of polling stations, who failed to record biometric data of voters, carry out the process properly, fill out digital result sheets or filled them incorrectly, would also be removed from the audit and recount team.
The panel added district electoral officers and their deputies, polling station managers and biometric voter verification operators, who lost their devices, SD cards or failed to deliver the machines to the IEC, would also be barred from the audit. The officers, whose electoral materials were snatched but they did not report it, would also be taken out of the process. The officials, whose result forms are different from data on biometric devices, will have no role in the audit and recount. Provincial election managers, who did not provide reports of violations and electoral offences on their watch, would also be excluded from audit and recount, the IEC said.
