In a call for a forensic audit of the voters' register, the party believes that these issues could impact the credibility of the upcoming elections.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has raised eight major concerns regarding Ghana's voter registration process ahead of the 2024 general elections.
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The NDC in a petition said the Electoral Commission (EC) could dispel doubts about the fairness and accuracy of the voter register by conducting such an audit.
The call for a foreign audit comes amid a notable decline in public trust towards the EC, courts and police as noted in the latest Afrobarometer survey.
The NDC in its petition identified 8 key things why it is calling for an audit.
Here are the 8 key things the NDC identified calling for a forensic audit.
1. Unauthorised voter transfers: The NDC has uncovered evidence of two hundred and forty-three thousand, five hundred and forty (243,540) illegal transfers in the 2024 PVR, including repeated transfers without the knowledge of the affected voters. This raises questions about who authorised these transfers and the role of EC officials in this process.
2. Unidentifiable voter transfer paths: Over fifteen thousand (15,000) cases of untraceable voter registration paths were identified, suggesting potential fraudulent registration or manipulation of voter data, especially when five Biometric Registration (BVR) equipment, which are laptops meant for registration of voters were stolen from the EC Headquarters under CCTV surveillance.
3. Deletion of registered voters: Nearly 4,000 (3,957) voters registered in 2023 have been deleted from the 2024 Provisional Register without valid justification.
4. Misplaced voter transfers: Approximately 2,094 voters were transferred to different polling stations but were not reflected in the Absent Voter List.
5. Corrupted data files: Corrupt files, including missing names and photos of registered voters, present a significant risk to the integrity of the election, particularly on voting day.
6. EC’s delayed transparency: The EC failed to provide the Provisional Voters Register (PVR) to the NDC in a timely manner for scrutiny, releasing the register hours before the Voter Exhibition Exercise. This hindered the party’s ability to examine the accuracy of the voters' register fully.
7. Admissions by the EC of manipulation: The EC admitted to errors and illegal voter transfers during a press conference but justified these mistakes as correctable during the exhibition exercise.
However, the NDC rejects this reasoning, as the scale of the discrepancies in the voters' register necessitates an independent forensic audit.
8. Impact on 2024 general elections: These discrepancies, errors, data distortions, and irregularities threaten the credibility of the upcoming elections. The manipulation of the Voters' Register undermines the constitutional right to vote and the integrity of the electoral process, posing a serious threat to Ghana's democracy.