The NDC has insisted that the magnitude of irregularities in the Provisional Voters Register (PVR) could not simply be described as minor oversights or clerical errors.
According to the party, these significant errors form part of the EC’s deliberate manipulation of the voter database to perpetrate potential election fraud in the December polls.
Failure to promptly address the numerous concerns regarding the uncovered anomalies, the party said, could jeopardize Ghana’s democratic reputation and national stability.
The NDC has therefore called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to take urgent steps to address the concerns raised by the party about the alarming irregularities, discrepancies, and unauthorized manipulations discovered in the 2024 Provisional Voters Register.
A swift action by the commission to address the anomalies, the NDC said, would enable the commission to preserve the integrity of Ghana’s democratic process and ensure the stability and security of the nation.
According to the main opposition party, these anomalies constitute an existential threat to the credibility of the 2024 General Elections.
In a petition to the EC today, Tuesday, September 17, 2024, the NDC noted that it has found troubling discrepancies in the PVR, including unauthorized voter transfers, missing and deleted voter data, untraceable transfer paths, and corrupt files.
The party further mentioned the missing names and photographs of registered voters as some of the irregularities it has uncovered in the Provisional Voters Register provided by the commission.
A statement read by the party’s National Chairman, Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, noted that the EC has acknowledged some of the issues raised by the party.
However, he insisted that the EC has surreptitiously refused to involve all stakeholders in addressing the legitimate concerns through a thorough forensic audit, despite recognizing the issues.
“Moreover, the undue delay in providing the PVR to the NDC—prior to the Voter Exhibition Exercise—for scrutiny has raised additional concerns about the integrity of the electoral process. Additionally, the theft of Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) equipment under CCTV surveillance at the headquarters of the Commission is still unresolved,” the party stated.
The NDC believes that if these issues remain unresolved, they could undermine the fairness and credibility of the upcoming elections. The party has therefore called for a forensic audit to ensure transparency.
A thorough forensic audit of the register, the party said, would not only restore public trust but also ensure that the elections proceed on a foundation of fairness and credibility.
Key issues identified so far by the NDC to warrant a forensic audit of the voters’ register:
The NDC mentioned unauthorized voter transfers as one of the infractions it uncovered, with evidence of two hundred and forty-three thousand, five hundred and forty (243,540) illegal transfers in the 2024 PVR.
This, the party alleged, included repeated transfers without the knowledge of the affected voters and raised concerns about who authorized these transfers and the role of EC officials in the process.
Additionally, the party mentioned unidentifiable voter transfer paths as another irregularity deliberately set in motion by the EC, where over fifteen thousand (15,000) cases of untraceable voter registration paths were identified.
In the party’s view, the above-stated anomaly suggests potential fraudulent registration or manipulation of voter data, especially when five Biometric Registration (BVR) laptops meant for registering voters were stolen from the EC Headquarters under CCTV surveillance.
The party also alleged that nearly 4,000 (3,957) voters registered in 2023 have been deleted from the 2024 Provisional Register without valid justification.
It alleged that approximately 2,094 voters were transferred to different polling stations but were not reflected in the Absent Voter List, adding that the EC admitted to the errors and illegal voter transfers during a press conference.
However, the NDC maintained that although the EC justified that these mistakes were correctable during the exhibition exercise, the magnitude of the discrepancies in the voters’ register requires an independent forensic audit.
The petition was received by a deputy commissioner of the commission, Mr. Samuel Tettey.
By: Naabenyin Joojo Amissah/newsalertgh.com
