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Recount.
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52.—(1) A candidate or an agent of a candidate present at the counting of the votes in a constituency may, at the conclusion of any count, request the local returning officer to re-examine and recount all or any of the ballot papers dealt with during that count and the local returning officer shall re-examine and recount such papers accordingly without making any alterations in the arrangement of the papers in the various parcels, save where such alterations may be necessary in consequence of an error discovered in the recount. Nothing in this subsection shall make it obligatory on the local returning officer to re-examine or recount the same parcel of papers more than once.
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(2) The local returning officer may at his discretion recount papers either once or more often in any case in which he is not satisfied as to the accuracy of any count. The power under this subsection to recount papers shall extend to papers dealt with at any count preceding the count concerned.
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(3) (a) As respects each candidate, one request (and not more) may be made by the candidate or the election agent of the candidate to the presidential returning officer during the ascertainment of the result of the voting for a complete re-examination and recount of all parcels of ballot papers and, where such a request is made, the presidential returning officer shall (subject to paragraph (d)(ii)), cause each local returning officer to re-examine and recount the parcels of ballot papers accordingly and notify him, in such manner as he may direct, of the result of the re-examination and recount.
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(b) In a re-examination and recount under paragraph (a), the number or order of ballot papers in any parcel shall not be disturbed but if an error is discovered which is, in the opinion of the presidential returning officer, a significant error likely to affect the result of the election, the presidential returning officer shall cause all the papers to be counted afresh from the point at which the error occurred.
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(c) Where an error is discovered, the presidential returning officer shall, where necessary, amend any result previously announced.
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(d) Nothing in this subsection shall make it obligatory on the presidential returning officer—
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(i) to cause the same parcel of ballot papers to be re-examined or recounted more than once, or
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(ii) to comply with a request under this subsection by a candidate or his election agent which, in the opinion of the presidential returning officer, is frivolous or vexatious.
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(e) A request under this subsection may be made only at the conclusion of a count.
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(4) Where a request made under subsection (3) is withdrawn by the candidate as respects whom it is made or by the election agent of the said candidate, it shall be open to the presidential returning officer to direct the local returning officers not to proceed, or proceed further with the re-examination and recount.
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