Charlotte Osei addressing the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs in Kumasi
The chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) Charlotte Osei, has dismissed claims that she is working to rig the polls for a particular party in the December elections, saying that she would need a ‘superman powers’ to do that.
According to the EC boss, it will take the connivance of the field officers in the 29,000 polling stations to activate any rigging machinery.
She said the commission was working to avoid the minefield that led to protracted electoral dispute after the 2012 elections.
Ms Charlotte Osei also announced that 15.8 millon Ghanaians have been captured in the updated voter register for the December 7 polls.
She said the EC would furnish all the political parties with the full list for their perusal, latest by next week.
The EC chairperson stated that the commission was ready to conduct credible polls this year.
According to her, ideally the full list should have been given to the political parties earlier but technical hitches caused the delay.
Charlotte Osei said all the legal processes regarding the compilation of a credible register had been followed by the EC and so the album was ready.
She was addressing the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs, chaired by Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, in Kumasi on Wednesday.
29,000 Registrants
Ms Charlotte Osei said about 29,000 people re-registered after the EC had deleted names of people who registered with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card.
She noted that the commission went through all the required processes by law before reaching the total figure, which is now in the final register for the polls.
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29,000 Polling Stations
The EC chair said polling stations in the country have been increased from about 26,000 in 2012 to a little below 29,000 for the December polls.
The increase, she explained, is to make the work of the EC officials easier as there would be fewer people voting at all the polling stations.
According to her, each polling station would have a maximum of 850 voters, adding that that would lessen pressure on the EC staff and the biometric machines.
She said the various political parties in the country would be provided with the full list of the about 29,000 polling stations latest by Friday.
She indicated that the security agencies would also be furnished with the polling stations list soon to help them strategise.
She pointed out that each polling station had been given a special code to avert confusion, adding that the full list would be posted on the EC’s website.
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Biometric Machines
The EC boss said each polling station would be provided with two biometric machines so that the original one could be immediately replaced in case it develops a fault.
She disclosed that manual verification would also be considered alongside biometric verification to avert disenfranchisement of eligible voters.
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Proxy List
Ms Charlotte Osei gave the assurance that the EC would also provide names of people on the proxy and voter transfer list to the political parties to ensure transparency.
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Special Voting Names
She said names of security personnel, EC staff and journalists who would vote during the special voting on December 1, would be given to the political parties.
According to the EC boss, all the political parties would be given a special seal, which would be used to lock the ballot boxes after the special voting.
She said her outfit was considering re-designing the ballot papers for the December 7 polls so as to help reduce rejected ballots.
She noted that the EC had started media education on proper voting and hoped that the move would help reduce the rejected ballot menace.
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Credible Polls
Charlotte Osei stated that the EC is aware of the legal issues that arose after the 2012 polls so it is doing everything possible to make the polls credible.
She assured the chiefs, especially Otumfuo, that the commission would conduct the upcoming polls in a transparent manner so as to ensure peace.
The Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs invited the EC gurus to brief the House about what they are doing to make the polls free and fair.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi