Somaliland police seize fake ballots

Police in Hargeysa, the capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, seized fake ballot papers at the territory's main airport on Thursday as authorities expanded their crackdown on reported fraud in the run-up to legislative elections slated for 29 September.

"Following a tip-off from members of the public, airport police - after a thorough search - confiscated over 150 fake ballot papers from a bag belonging to a passenger aboard a plane from UAE [the United Arab Emirates]. All the papers were printed in Dubai," Mohammed Igge Elmi, Somaliland's police chief, told reporters in Hargeysa on Thursday.

Elmi also said all the impounded papers had serial numbers bearing the region of Awdal and the symbol of a candidate from the region, Muse Mohamed Ismail, whom he said would be apprehended. He added that the owner of the bag - a relative of Ismail's - was being held in police custody.

The discovery of the fake papers followed a warning by the Somaliland Electoral Commission issued on Monday that some of the 246 candidates in the legislative poll had printed fake ballot papers in an effort to rig their way to victory. They are contesting 82 parliamentary seats.

Commission Chairman Ahmed Adami said some candidates had given ballot papers to backstreet printing houses after obtaining samples during civic education exercises.

"Attempts to sneak fake ballot papers into the electoral boxes during the elections will automatically lead to disqualification of candidates," Adami said on Thursday following the seizure.

He urged the public to report candidates attempting to use fake ballot papers. He also said genuine ballot papers printed in Britain bore a security watermark.

Meanwhile, the main opposition party in Somaliland, Kulmiye, has expressed concern about electoral fairness following the discovery of the fake ballots. Kulmiye Secretary-General Daud Mahamed Gelle said fake ballots would create confusion and mistrust among the voters.

"The confiscated papers had Awdal Region serial numbers, we strongly believe many other fake papers have escaped the police dragnet and got transported to other regions," Gelle said. "We have concluded there will be no free and fair election."