The Electoral Commission (EC) has engaged the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants with a view to having professionals from their folds to assist with the collation of results in the various constituencies during the forthcoming polls.
Charlotte Osei disclosed this among other novelties, which she said are being introduced in the forthcoming polls to make the process a world-class one when she and other officials of the EC hosted selected news editors in Accra yesterday.
She however, denied that the engagement of lawyers and accountants is the wholesale importation of the Jega module from Nigeria. According to her, there are varied differences between the two countries – one of them being the federal nature of Africa’s most populous country.
Following the challenges encountered during the last polls, she said the need for reforms in the process were thought out, pointing out that a committee was empanelled to make recommendations to obviate such pitfalls in the future.
Varied reforms, she said, had been introduced, some of them internal, to ensure efficiency in the work of the commission.
Twenty-seven recommendations were put forth by a committee set up to deliberate on the subject – all of which were adopted but two.
One of the adopted recommendations, she announced, is the increase in the number of polling stations from 26,000 to 29,000 so that the number of persons at polling stations would be reduced.
The issue of over-voting came up during the engagement, about which she said, “The number of persons on the register is no long tied to the issue of over-voting.”
The change of the election date from November 7 to December 7, according to her, had distorted the EC’s programmes. This notwithstanding, she gave the assurance that the EC would implement its reforms, adding that the commission would go ahead to ensure that its reforms were not hampered by the date.
One of the novelties, she added, is the publishing within 21 days to the election date lists of polling stations and their codes – something she said had been agreed with the political parties at IPAC level.
Details of returning officers and others she said, would be made available so that objections – if there are – can be raised accordingly.
On whether voters should remain at the polling stations after casting their votes, Mrs Osei wondered why it was necessary to do so since the parties have their representatives at such locations. “We will not advise people to wait there after casting their votes,” she underscored, as she foresaw possible chaos.
She allayed the fears of Ghanaians about breakdown of devices during the process as it happened in the last polls, explaining that the available machine strength stands at 72,000, each station taking two. “There are backup machines to take care of technical challenges,” she went on.
The EC, the chairman said, is unable to put out the cost of the recent expenditures regarding a fresh logo and others, denying especially that the changing of the logo is part of a rebranding of the EC. “That could not have cost more than GH¢20,000,” she said.
“We cannot tell the cost of the rebranding. It is part of the restructuring of the commission. It is part of our five-year strategic plan,” she said in response to a query by one of the media persons.
While reaching out to the media for support in the EC’s work, Charlotte dangled the changes she had introduced so far towards her dream of making the commission efficient, credible and world-class.
Although a wholesale importation of how her Nigerian counterpart undertook the polls is not what she is doing, aspects of it are visible in her management, one of which is the engagement of highly educated persons for electoral work. Another novelty is the obliteration of making EC officials swear oaths in the presence of their colleagues, announcing that in its place such persons would do same in the presence of a magistrate. In the event of electoral breaches such persons would be liable to jail terms.
The EC, she said, was concerned about the high rate of rejected ballots and added that research into the factors for the anomaly points at alcoholism, tension, and above all, fraud on the part of some persons who deliberately go out of their way to spoil the ballots. She demanded of the media to suggest ways of stemming the tide.
By A.R. Gomda