OTJIWARONGO: The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) confirmed on Friday the disappearance of a ballot paper for the presidential elections from a polling station in Otjiwarongo. The incident was discovered during the first round of counting of the preliminary results for the Presidential and National Assembly Elections conducted nationwide on Wednesday.According to Namibia Press Agency, the issue came to light on Thursday morning at the Cornerstone Church building polling station in the DRC informal area. The Presiding Officer, Elifas Ndipulalye, explained that his team comprised seven election officials and three political agents from the Landless People's Movement (LPM), Swapo, and the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC). Despite their efforts, the missing ballot paper could not be located.The team discovered the ballot paper was missing during Thursday morning's count. A recount was conducted at the same venue but without success, prompting a third recount at the Otjiwarongo ECN Collation Centre l ocated at the Vooruit Primary School Hall on Friday, which also yielded the same results, as confirmed by Ndipulalye.Ndipulalye reported that 622 votes were counted in the presidential elections at the Cornerstone Church building polling station, with 13 being rejected. In the National Assembly elections, 496 votes were counted, with an identical number of 13 rejected.Charlotte Jantze, the ECN Returning Officer for the Otjiwarongo Constituency, who was present during the third recount at the collation centre, suggested that the missing ballot paper might not have been placed in the ballot box. "The voter might have walked away with it to his or her home," Jantze speculated. She assured that the National Assembly election votes were accurate.The process of balancing information and counting votes in both the Presidential and National Assembly elections in other constituencies within the Otjozondjupa Region was ongoing as of Friday afternoon.