EC rejects proposal for independent audit of Voters’ Register – NDC

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) says the Electoral Commission (EC) has rejected the Party’s proposal for an independent forensic audit of the Provisional Voters’ Register.

The Elections Directorate of the NDC met with the EC in Accra on Thursday to discuss some identified challenges with the Provisional Voters’ Register, particularly on matters relating to illegal voter transfers.

The NDC tabled four key “anomalies” it said it had identified with the register, including what the Party termed as “corrupt files” which comprises files that did not contain names and photographs of voters on some of the files issued by the Commission.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, Director of Elections, NDC, said the Party also uncovered some voters in the 2023 Voters’ Register who had been “deleted” from the 2024 Provisional Voters’ Register.

Other issues identified by the NDC were names of voters in previous transfers added to the 2024 transfers, and repetition of names on the transfer list, he added.

Dr Boamah said the Party was not convinced that the Voters Register to be used for the 2024 General Election “is fit for purpose.”

He said the NDC did not trust the capacity of the EC to correct the said anomalies, hence the Party’s call for an independent forensic audit of the register.

“We have enumerated these anomalies and we are saying that the very doctor that created the problem should not be the doctor that will resolve the problem. The EC must agree for an independent body to audit them.” Dr Boamah said.

The EC at a press conference in Accra on Monday said it was taking steps to reverse the illegal voter transfers in the Pisuga Constituency in the Upper East Region.

The Commission said preliminary investigations established that 38 voters were transferred to the Pusiga Constituency from the Tamale South and Sagnerigu constituencies in the Northern Region without their consent.

Per Regulation 22, Sub-Regulation 1 of Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) 127, the Registered Voter must be physically present to request for the transfer of vote to another Polling Station.

The Commission said the transfer of vote could only be done at the District Offices and required the presence of the Voter who must be verified using either his/her face or fingerprints.

“Following this incident, the Commission has introduced a ‘liveliness check’ in the verification process, which is a feature designed to ensure that the biometric data being captured is from a live, present human being and not from a spoofed source, such as a photograph, which is what was done in this case.

“The ‘liveliness check’ has since been built into the system to prevent any such future occurrence,” Dr Bossman Eric Asare, Deputy EC Chair, in-charge of Corporate Services, said.

Source: GNA

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