EC, stakeholders must sanitise stables together

Last Monday, a Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Eric Bossman Asare, addressed the concern of unsolicited voter transfers following revelations that some votes had been transferred without the knowledge or consent of the affected voters.

This came up as the EC began to exhibit the voters register across the country as part of the exercise towards the December 7 polls.

The assurance, as important as it could be, came with the information that the elections management body had suspended one of its officers for his complicity in the unsolicited voter transfer controversy.

The immediate action by the EC was a drastic measure that must give hope and a clear message that the commission remains wary of its integrity. For the neutrals, it must come as a piece of welcome news that goes to enhance the integrity of the electoral process.

The December polls, like all previous ones in the Fourth Republic, have raised interest among the electorate in the lead-up to the elections. But also like the previous polls, suspicions among stakeholders, not least the political parties, make it imperative that the elections management body delivers an almost perfect process that produces the will of the people.

It was a concern that as many as 38 votes were transferred from the Tamale South and Sagnerigu constituencies in the Northern Region to Pusiga Constituency in the Upper East Region without the consent and knowledge of the affected individuals.

As we have become aware, the situation was discovered during the exhibition process. Indeed, it is in anticipation of possible errors, system failures or even deliberate violation of the electoral process that each one of the steps towards the elections have been arranged.

From the registration process, compilation and tabulation of registrants, transfer of votes, application for early voting, exhibition of the provisional register, opening of nomination, filing of nomination, printing of the ballot papers, the voting process, collation and counting of ballot and declaration of results, among other necessary procedures along the way, the EC’s plate is filled with a difficult itinerary.

Each one of those and other relevant but non-core activities such as public sensitisation through regular engagement with the media and key stakeholders all go to build the public’s confidence in the EC and its process.

While the discovery of the unsolicited transfers had raised alarm among some members of the public and political parties, the response by the EC would come as a balm to water down concerns.

The whole essence of the meticulous process of the electoral system is to engender public confidence to boost the acceptance of electoral outcomes. The outcomes, in this sense, do not merely refer to the results about winners and losers, but the general output that delivers the desired final product.

It is for this reason that exercises that hoist the integrity of the electoral process are non-negotiable in the run-up to the December polls. And it is for this reason we deem it important that the EC engages its stakeholders all along the way to the finishing line to foster transparency and the attendant confidence in the system.

It is also important that the EC tightens its systems to forestall the chances of any such concerns recurring in the future. While the leadership of the commission has demonstrated its intolerance for inefficiencies and violations that bring the whole electoral process into disrepute, it must also strengthen its supervision of officials.

It is possible that those who operate within the lower levels of the electoral structure could be the ones who put a spoke in the wheels of an otherwise smooth system and cause it to malfunction in a manner that questions the integrity of the system and those who supervise it at the top.

The controversies around the electoral process should not be allowed to continue to play up. Instead, the EC and all stakeholders must consider it a collective duty to help to sanitise the stables in the national interest, rather than seeking a parochial benefit.

This is doable!