Dr. Bossman Asare
The Electoral Commission (EC) has defended its decision to proceed with the emergency reprinting of ballot papers during the 2024 general election, insisting that the move was lawful and necessary to protect the integrity of the polls.
The EC explained that following the December 7, 2024 elections, several contracts were awarded for the printing and supply of ballot papers for both the general election and subsequent statutory elections in 2025.
The Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) in charge of Corporate Affairs, Dr. Bossman Asare, indicated that it had been awarding such contracts since the conclusion of the general election, including those for the district assembly and unit committee elections, which were conducted in early and mid-2025.
However, he said the Commission’s emergency reprinting of ballots for the Eastern and Western regions drew scrutiny. According to the EC, on the night of November 29, 2024, around 10:00 p.m., the National Security alerted the Commission to a possible leak of presidential ballot papers intended for the Eastern Region.
According to him, a subsequent assessment by the EC on November 30, 2024 confirmed that the leaked ballot matched the official ones scheduled for use.
In response to the incident, the Commission convened a meeting on December 1, 2024, with all political parties under the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).
Dr. Bossman said it was during this meeting that all stakeholders, including the EC and political parties, agreed that the safest course of action would be to reprint the presidential and parliamentary ballot papers for both the Eastern and Western regions.
He added that the political parties also agreed on the selection of three printing houses to carry out the reprinting.
He disclosed that the EC proceeded to write to the Central Tender Review Committee (CTRC) on December 2, 2024, to formally seek approval for the emergency procurement while the reprinting was already underway due to the tight election timeline.
The Deputy Commissioner explained that it had no choice but to act swiftly to ensure the elections in the two regions could take place as scheduled.
He said formal approval from the CTRC was later granted on December 24, 2024.
Despite questions from Members of Parliament suggesting that the EC breached procurement laws by proceeding before receiving formal approval, the Deputy Commissioner maintained that no law was broken.
Dr. Bossman Asare insisted that the Commission acted transparently and informed the appropriate authorities from the onset. He emphasised that failing to act promptly would have resulted in the disenfranchisement of voters in the affected regions.
Dr. Asare further clarified that the distribution of the leaked ballot papers was part of a process traditionally managed by the EC in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service and political party representatives, noting that the security agencies and political parties were actively involved throughout.
MPs also sought clarification on conflicting media reports which suggested that there was no actual leakage but rather an anomaly identified by a political party agent.
In response, the EC boss confirmed that the issue came to light when an agent of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) detected an irregularity, which led to the swift review and eventual decision to reprint the ballots.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House