Cleaning voters register: Discrepancies identified in provisional register corrected - EC assures public

Daniel Kenu & Nana Konadu Agyeman Politics Sep - 28 - 2024 , 12:09

The Electoral Commission (EC) has stated that it has corrected the discrepancies identified in the provisional voters register (PVR) it generated immediately after the registration of voters.

The commission said while it was not feasible to display the PVR at all polling stations (Exhibition centres) nationwide again, it gave an assurance that it would do so via electronic media to allow for an inspection, revision and correction of the register, where necessary, at no cost to the registered voter.

“In essence, the exhibition exercise provides the legal basis to clean the PVR,” the commission said in a letter signed by its Chairperson, Jean Mensa.

The letter, which was in response to the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC’s) request to the EC to allow for the conduct of a forensic audit by an independent body, was copied to a number of stakeholders, including the Speaker of Parliament, the Majority and Minority Leaders of Parliament; Civil Society Organisations in Governance; the Christian Council of Ghana and the Diplomatic Community and Foreign Missions in Ghana.

The rest are the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council; the National Peace Council; the Office of the National Chief Imam and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission.

Draft register

In a letter dated, Thursday, September 25, 2024 and addressed to the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, in response to a petition to the EC over discrepancies in the PVR, the EC said the current voters register was a provisional one which was generated immediately after the registration of voters.

“It is a draft register and it is not the final register. Regulations 23 and 24 of the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2016 Constitutional Instrument (C.1.) 91 as amended by C.1.126, enjoins the commission to display the PVR at all polling stations (Exhibition Centres) nationwide to allow for an inspection and revision and correction where necessary.

“This and other legal and administrative processes are carried out before a final register is produced. C.1. 91 recognises that the PVR is a draft register,” she said.

Petition

In a petition to the commission and Parliament on September 17, 2024, the NDC alleged that 243,540 voters were transferred illegally in the provisional voters register.

It indicated that the said transfers were without the participation of the voters, and therefore, described the transfer as “illegal”.

The party also alleged that 3,957 voters previously registered were deleted from the 2024 provisional register without explanation.

Those discrepancies, the party said, made the PVR unfit for the 2024 general election, and therefore proposed that it should be subjected to a forensic audit.

Curing anomalies

The EC said cognisant of the fact that a PVR was bound to contain discrepancies, C.1. 91, instituted the mechanism of the exhibition exercise to allow for the cleaning and revision of the PVR to ensure that it was credible and robust for an election.

The EC, therefore, expressed the hope that the NDC would agree with the commission that as with any human endeavour, such as the registration of voters, there were bound to be discrepancies.

One could not, therefore, expect the provisional voters register to be perfect, the EC said.

It added that it was for that reason that Regulation 23 of C.1. 91 provided clear and well-defined pathways to cure and deal with likely anomalies that were bound to arise from the registration of voters.

The anomalies included missing names, errors in biographical data, duplicates, the existence of deceased persons on the register, incorrect designation of polling stations, among others, it said.

“Thankfully, there exist legal and administrative remedies to resolve all post-registration issues”.

“It is for these reasons that we assured you during our meeting on September 6, 2024 that the category of issues you (NDC) presented had largely been resolved. “We indicated that the issues you had detected were the usual issues that arise from every registration exercise which find expression in the PVR,” the EC’s letter stated.

It pointed out that to allay the fears then and to reassure the NDC of the credibility of the voters register, the commission requested that “you present us with your data on the discrepancies you had detected”.

“The sole purpose was to demonstrate to you that your issues with the register had been resolved. Unfortunately, we have not received the data,” the EC pointed out.

“As you will recall, there was an agreement that you would provide us with the data to allow us to investigate and report back within a week,” the EC further averred.

It added: “We believe that had you followed through with this process, you would today, attest to the credibility and integrity of the register and abandon your call for a forensic audit. We, however, assure you that all the discrepancies identified during and after the exhibition have been corrected”.

No denial

The EC further explained that in cleaning the PVR, the commission employed a rigorous four-pronged approach.

Voters to various polling stations (Exhibition Centres) and via electronic media, who detected errors with their details, had them corrected, and exhibition officers in all its 40,000 plus polling stations scrutinised the register and reported discrepancies for correction, it said.

Again, district electoral officers relying on the register scrutinised it and corrected discrepancies, then also staff utilising the register scrutinised it and reported discrepancies for correction.

“This approach has been effective in helping to clean the register and rid it of discrepancies.

“For the records, this same approach was adopted by the commission prior to the production of the final register in 2020. It worked effectively,” it said.

Invitation

As the body mandated by article 45 (a) of the Constitution to compile the register of voters and to revise it at such periods as may be determined by law, the EC urged the NDC “to trust us to perform our functions as enshrined in the Constitution”.

“As you are aware, the Electoral Commission of Ghana is respected globally for its ability to perform its functions, which include the compilation of a robust voters register and ultimately the conduct of free, fair and transparent elections,” she added.

“To allay your fear, we invite your team to the discussion table to enable us to demonstrate to you that the discrepancies with the PVR have been resolved,” the EC stated.

It expressed the view that the existing legal and administrative processes for cleaning the PVR had not been fully exhausted to justify the call for a forensic audit.

NDC responds

The Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the NDC will meet on Tuesday to take a decision on the EC's response to the party's petition.

The Deputy Director of Elections and IT, Dr Rashid Computer Sofo Tanko, made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic.

"The Functional Executive Committee meeting will study the response of the Electoral Commission to our petition and respond appropriately," he said, adding that the next line of action would be taken after the meeting.

Mr Tanko said the EC's response had vindicated the party's position, else what was the EC alluding to that it had corrected all the discrepancies in the voter register as raised by the party.
He said the NDC should be applauded for helping to consolidate the country's democracy by ensuring transparent, fair and credible elections.