Gabon Court to Recount Disputed Vote Results, Ambassador Says

Gabon’s Constitutional Court will recount the ballots cast in presidential elections last month following days of violent protests against the outcome that showed President Ali Bongo won by a margin of less than 10,000 votes.

“A recount of the vote will be completed by the Constitutional Court and the winner confirmed,” Michael Moussa-Adamo said in an open letter Tuesday to the New York Times. “The State Department and the African Union stated that any challenge to the election results conform to Gabonese election law. The Constitutional Court’s review will also conform to the law.”

Protesters burned down parliament and other symbols of state after the electoral commission announced Bongo won the election with 49.8 percent of the vote, against 48.2 percent for opposition leader Jean Ping. Bongo’s victory was due to the tally in his home province, where voter turnout was 99.93 percent. Opposition parties immediately rejected the result, saying a turnout of more than 99 percent among 71,714 voters wasn’t plausible.

The U.S. and the European Union have urged Gabon to publish the results per polling station, rather than for the nine provinces.