EC suspends officer over unsolicited voter transfers

The Electoral Commission (EC) says it will not shield any official, either permanent or temporary, who violates any of its processes that compromises the integrity of the electoral system.

It has consequently suspended an electoral officer over the controversial transfer of votes from the Tamale South and Sagnerigu constituencies in the Northern Region to Pusiga Constituency in the Upper East Region without the knowledge of the affected persons.

The EC further revealed — without stating the connection with the suspended officer — that one Haruna Muniru was on police bail after he had been arrested in connection with the matter.

It has, however, assured the public that it would ensure that the voters register and the electoral process for the December 7 general election were not compromised.

The elections management body said, for now, the electoral officer for Pusiga in the Upper East Region was under investigations as it continued to probe how multiple names on the electoral register were transferred without the permission and knowledge of the affected persons.

“The commission wishes to assure the public that after the exhibition exercise, the final voter register that will be produced will be robust and credible,” the EC’s Deputy Commissioner in charge of Corporate Affairs, Dr Eric Bossman Asare, said at a news conference in Accra yesterday.

He pointed out that preliminary investigations by the commission had revealed that voter transfers were, indeed, effected for 38 individuals “using the credentials of an Electoral Commission official”.

“The records of those transfers are captured in the Voter Management System’s (VMS) audit logs. A look at the verification done during the transfer process shows that photos of the voters from their Voter ID Cards were used for facial verification and to effect the transfers,” Dr Asare said.

He said the EC would, therefore, not shield any of its officers, both permanent and temporary, found complicit in any electoral malpractice, but would instead allow such persons to face the full rigours of the law.

Per the provision of the law, the registered voter must be physically present to request the transfer of vote to another polling station.

"The transfer of vote can only be done at the district offices, and requires the presence of the voter which must be verified using either his or her face or fingerprints," Dr Asare said.

He said after concluding its preliminary investigations, the voters alluded to the fact that their voter ID cards were collected by one Haruna Muniru ostensibly for the processing of a loan. 

Investigations

The investigation, the EC Deputy Commissioner said, revealed that voter transfers were, indeed, effected for 38 individuals using the credentials of an EC official.

"The records of those transfers are captured in the Voter Management System’s (VMS) audit logs. A look at the verification done during the transfer process shows that photos of the voters from their voter ID cards were used for facial verification and to effect the transfers," Dr Asare said at the EC's “Let the citizens know” event.

He said while the commission did not have any evidence to believe that the occurrence was widespread, it had instituted investigations to ascertain if similar incidents occurred elsewhere beyond the reported case in the Tamale South and Sagnerigu constituencies.

"Any such transfers will be reversed, and the perpetrators of such acts shall be dealt with according to the law," he said.

Check system

Following this incident, Dr Asare said, the commission had introduced a “liveliness check” in the verification process, which was a feature designed “to ensure that the biometric data being captured is from a live, present human being and not from a spoofed source, such as a photograph, which is what was done in this case”.

He said the “liveliness check” had since been built into the system to prevent any such future occurrence.  Dr Asare said the provisional voters register was not the final voters register.

“We wish to restate that the provisional voters register is not the final voters register. The central objective of the exhibition exercise is to correct any anomalies and issues with the provisional register before the final register is produced.

Dr Asare said the exhibited register contained a transferred voters list and an absent voters list for each polling station.

He said the absent voters list should contain a list of all voters that had been transferred out of a particular polling station within the period that the EC opened up the register for transfers and special voting.

He said the absent voters list should contain only voters who had transferred their votes and those partaking in special voting.

"The transferred voters list conversely contains all voters who have been transferred to the polling station within that period," he said.

The Deputy Commissioner explained that in the preparations towards this year's exhibition exercise, the absent voters list and the transferred voters list inadvertently included all transfers that had been done since 2020 when the register was first prepared.

"This has resulted in a higher-than-expected number of absent and transferred voters.

"This understandably may have caused some anxiety to our stakeholders, as exemplified by the press conference addressed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam Constituency of the Central Region.

The commission has corrected this anomaly and will share with all the political parties the corrected absent and transferred voters list for each polling station that contains only those applicants who successfully applied for transfers or special voting for the 2024 general elections," Dr Asare stressed.

He said it was untrue that the commission had added names to the voters register ostensibly to rig the elections for a particular party.

"The EC has no intention of bloating the register to give any political party advantage," he said.

"The commission has nothing to hide. The provisional voters register is a public document on display and is available online for voters to access in order to verify their details.

This is not a secret document. At the end of the day, the final register will be made available to all the political parties, as per the law and normal practice," he stated.