Gabon Election 2016: Opposition complains of illegalities in security forces' votes

The campaign team of the main opposition candidate Jean Ping, has complained of illegalities during the voting of the police and military forces.

#Gabon Election: The camp of Jean Ping condemns the “flagrant illegalities” during Saturday's vote of the security forces

— africanews (@africanews) August 27, 2016

In a statement on Saturday, the campaign director of Jean Ping, Jean Gaspard Ntoutoume Ayi, denounced the declaration by the Constitutional Court announced on Friday allowing the military and police to vote outside their registered centers.

This decision is a “flagrant violation of the electoral law and opens the door to fraud,” he said, adding that it enables members of the security forces “to vote multiple times in several centers and polling stations by registering on several lists, since there is no computer interconnection between voting offices.”

The Constitutional Court declaration was published on Friday in the national daily with a justification that the security forces are deployed nationwide outside their constituencies, and they need to vote.

Gabonese began voting in their presidential election on Saturday morning. Favourites among the eleven presidential candidates are the incumbent president Ali Bongo Ondimba and the main opposition leader and former African Union chairman Jean Ping.