EC worried over media calling election results

The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs Charlotte Osei, says one of the major challenges confronting the commission is the potential for the media to call the results of the December elections ahead of the EC.

Additionally, the EC was worried over the use of social media to publish untrue stories that had the potential of causing chaos during the elections, she said.

Mrs Osei expressed these fears when she addressed a cross-section of Ghanaians in the United Kingdom (UK), UK policy makers, researchers, diplomats, business representatives, civil society representatives, among others. 

She was in the UK at the instance of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) for an official engagement on Ghana’s upcoming elections.

 “One of the greatest challenges we have going into this election is the potential for the media to call the results ahead of the EC. Before we call the results, we make sure that the results are accurate.

“So we are worried over the media declaring results; we are worried over the abuse of social media. If people start sending out stories which are not true, it can cause chaos and we may not have enough time for even the security agencies to react to this,” Mrs Osei said.

EC working with political actors

In view of the dangers involved in the media calling the results and the possibility of the abuse of social media, she said, the EC was working closely with the political parties and all stakeholders for everyone to understand the risk inherent in behaviour that was not proper “and the fact that this has consequences for all of us and not just the EC”.

“It is the future of our nation that is at stake and it is important that we hold ourselves to a higher standard,” she told the gathering.

She said the commission was doing everything that it could to make sure that the “elections are safe; people can vote without intimidation and we follow the law in all situations, no matter how difficult it is”.

Mrs Osei said that was why the EC needed the political actors to work together and recalled instances when there were violent attacks on some properties and officials of the EC during the limited voters registration and voter transfer.

She expressed worry that the situation was making it difficult for the EC to send its staff to work after those incidents. 

Lack of criminal prosecution

She identified the lack of criminal prosecution of electoral offences as one factor that emboldened perpetrators to continue in that regard.

“And so we have been working closely with the security agencies for them to treat electoral offences as criminal offences that should be treated with all the seriousness they deserve in the interest of the entire country,” she said.

She said the EC was resolute that it would deliver good elections this year, explaining that “a lot of work has gone into this. We have done all kinds of back-up plans to make sure that if anything fails, there is a plan in place to support the process”.

“We are very confident that we will succeed. We have history on our side; we have experience on our side and we have a reputation for delivering in Africa,” Mrs Osei said.

Recommendations from the committee

Answering questions from the audience, she explained that after the election petition in 2013, a Special Reform Committee  was set up by the EC to synthesise the various reforms proposed by the panel of Justices of the Supreme Court and political parties, noting that the committee came up with 29 recommendations, out of which the EC accepted 27.

She said it rejected the recommendation that civil society organisations should be included on the membership of the  Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), saying it was the view of the commission that IPAC should be left as the platform for engaging political parties.

Mrs Osei said the second recommendation which was rejected by the EC was to make biometric verification a condition for  potential voters to exercise their franchise.