Call for voters register forensic audit premature – EC replies NDC

Mrs Jean Mensa

The Electoral Commission (EC) has described as “premature” the National Democratic Congress’ demand for an audit of the provisional voters register and the Commission’s IT systems.

The Commission said it has robust, well-grounded and time-tested procedures it follows to prepare a final register for the purpose of public elections in the country and that the process was not concluded.

In a statement signed by the Chairperson of the Commission, Mrs Jean Mensa, in response to the September 17 petition of the party for the audits, the Commission said the opposition party has not exhausted the existing legal and administrative processes for cleaning the register.

The process, the Commission enumerated starts with registration of voters, and exhibition of the provisional voters register to allow for inspection and correction of discrepancies.

It is followed by the sittings of District Registration Review Officers to hear and rule on cases including objections, review and authentication of provisional register by officers, and implementation of their decisions.

Verification of implementation of District Registration Review Officers’ decisions by the Regional Directorate, verification of implementation of officers’ decisions by selected IT staff follow before the printing of final voters roll, the statement added.

“As we speak, our District Officers are implementing the decisions and recommendations of the DRROs. From the above, you will attest to the fact that the production of a final voters register is a process, not an event.

“It does not happen overnight. It requires painstaking effort and processes to arrive at a Final Register. The above processes are ongoing and have not been exhausted. It is therefore our position that the call for forensic audit is premature,” the statement said.

The NDC in a presentation to civil society organisations and the diplomatic community in Ghana on Monday contended that the provisional register is fraught with irregularities which could affect about 300,000 votes and ultimately affect the credibility of the polls on December 7.

The irregularities, the NDC said included 243,540 previous transfers illegally added to 2024 transfers, over 15,000 unidentifiable voter transfers paths, 3,957 names deleted from the roll, 2,094 voters transferred to different polling stations and corrupt files.

But the EC said “as with any human endeavour, such as the registration of voters, there are bound to be discrepancies. One cannot therefore expect a perfect provisional register and it is for this reason that Regulations 23 and 24 of C.I.91 provide clear and well-defined pathways to cure and deal with likely anomalies that are bound to arise from the registration of voters”.

The Commission assured the NDC and the general public that “it has largely resolved all the discrepancies identified in the provisional voters register. The Commission achieved this in 2020 and will do it again in 2024”.

BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI