The Electoral Commission (EC) has rejected claims by Election Watch Ghana that stolen Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) Kits are being used to secretly register voters, calling the allegation unfounded and without evidence
The Commission, thus, advised the public to ignore these false and unsubstantiated claims, which have no basis in fact.
Furthermore, the Commission set the record straight, stating that it never claimed that BVR Kits were stolen, but rather reported the theft of five laptops to the security agencies, clarifying the misunderstanding.
The Commission emphasized that it had promptly notified all stakeholders about the missing laptops, and clarified that labeling them as BVR Kits is a deliberate misinformation tactic employed by certain groups to mislead the public and perpetuate baseless claims.
“As the Commission has previously explained, a BVR Kit comprises several essential components: a Laptop, a Fingerprint Scanner, a Digital Camera, and a Printer among others. These components must be activated all together for the kits to be used to register voters. We repeat the five (5) missing laptops on their own cannot be used to register voters”.
Electoral Commission (EC)
Moreover, the EC emphasized that the ongoing registration exercise operates under a transparent framework, granting access to all registration centers for political party agents, accredited observers, and media representatives, ensuring an open and accountable process.
The Commission also indicated that it provides political party agents with daily Start-of-Day and End-of-Day reports to enable them to verify and reconcile the number of registered voters against their own records, ensuring accuracy and consistency nationwide.
Furthermore, the Commission admitted to mistakes in certain infographics, specifically those related to challenge cases, and promptly issued corrections to ensure accuracy and transparency.
As such, the EC assured that the corrected infographics did not affect the actual registered voter numbers by district and region, which remained accurate, indicating that notably, no political party has disputed the published registration figures, as they align with their records.
BVR Kit Serial Numbers Crucial for Operation
Moreover, the Commission noted that it had initially explained that the serial numbers of BVR Kits play a crucial role in the operation of these devices, particularly in the generation of activation codes essential for their functionality.
Accordingly, the EC clarified that its decision to withhold sensitive security information should not be misinterpreted as a ploy to secretly register voters at undisclosed locations, challenging Election Watch Ghana to provide evidence of such locations, if they exist, to support its claims of illegal registration.
“The Commission urges the Political Parties who are key stakeholders in the electoral process, to publish their collated daily registration figures from all gazetted Registration Centers and inform the public if the figures published by the Commission do not reflect the number of voters registered at the gazetted Registration Centers, where their Agents are stationed”.
Electoral Commission (EC)
Furthermore, the Commission pointed out that it is widely acknowledged that due to the transparent procedures implemented at all Registration Centers across the country, no entity, including the Commission itself, can manipulate or alter the daily recorded figures at any Registration Center.
As such the EC stressed that there is no iota of truth in the allegations made by Election Watch Ghana to the effect that the Commission is registering people in a secret location. “We urge the public to disregard them”, the Commission stressed.
Moreover, the Commission assured the public that all political parties with agents at all gazetted Registration Centers receive daily Start-of-Day and End-of-Day Reports from the Commission that enable the agents to cross-check their records with the Commission’s End-of-Day Report on a daily basis.
The Commission also noted that it provided the political parties with the 2023 Voters Register.
As such, the EC disclosed that the number of registered voters on the 2023 Voters Register is Seventeen million, Nine Hundred and Thirteen Thousand and Seventy-Two (17,913,072), stressing that all political parties are aware of this fact.
The Electoral Commission assured that it will publish the total number of registered voters, which currently stands at 17,913,072, plus the additional registrations from the ongoing Limited Registration Exercise, before the display of the Provisional Register.
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