Witness for the Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan has told the Supreme Court hearing the Election Petition that he could accept a cast ballot that did not bear the official stamp of the presiding officer. He said this during cross-examination by counsel for the petitioners Philip Addison in Day-32 of the hearing of the Presidential Election Petition. Counsel sought to bring to the notice of the witness, instances where unstamped ballot papers were found in the ballot box during the counting of ballots. Unstamped ballots were supposed to be recorded in Column D1 of the Ballot Accounting Sheet at the polling station. Based on this, Addison asked the witness if he was aware of cast and counted ballot papers without the official stamp. He added that such ballots would have to be rejected if they were found. The witness said he wasn’t aware but went on to say that a ballot without a stamp may be rejected. Counsel for the petitioners found this response strange and asked for clarification. Afari-Gyan explained that a ballot without stamp may or may not be rejected after investigations are conducted by the presiding officer. Such an investigation would be to determine if the number of voters who had cast their ballots corresponded with the number of ballots in the box. If it did, he could admit it. He said the presiding officer was completely in charge of the polling station under his supervision. It was “in his wisdom” to decide the admissibility of the ballot. He said this was a “general rule”. “Where is this rule in your manual?” Addison probed further. Dr. Afari-Gyan answered said as part of the functions and responsibilities of the presiding officer, he is vested with authority to oversee the “overall” administration of the elections at the polling station.