I can’t rig elections for any candidate — Charlotte Osei
The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs Charlotte Osei, has said there is no way she can rig elections in the country, since the system makes it “impossible” for one person to do so.
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Downplaying accusations by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) that she was plotting to rig the December 7 elections in favour of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), the EC chair said it would have to take a whole cartel to do so, since the chairperson did not decide the outcome of elections alone.
In an interview on Metro TV’ s Good Evening Ghana programme last Thursday, Mrs Osei said: “It is just not possible under the system.”
According to her, such allegations were unfounded and insisted that she was focused on delivering credible elections in December.
The EC boss also expressed optimism about the elections and said it would be better than previous ones in terms of the processes involved.
Rigging not part of my value system
“For Charlotte Osei to rig elections, she has to get the support and active involvement of her six co-commissioners, her 10 regional directors, the 200-plus district electoral officers, the 275 returning officers and their two assistants.
“Then when you get to the polling stations for this year’s elections, Charlotte Osei has to let all these people decide to toe one line. You are likely to have over 500,000 agents for candidates per party and two counting agents per party at the collation centres. All these people must actively be working and changing the documents for Charlotte Osei to rig the elections.
“So I need to convince 500,000-plus people to skew the system in favour of one person. I haven’t figured out how to do that yet and it is not even a part of my value system to do that. Basically, it is impossible,” she explained.
The EC chair has come under public criticism in recent times, especially from the NPP, but responding to those criticisms, she said she was focused and would welcome constitutional criticisms.
“Criticisms by themselves are not bad. All of us need criticisms to improve upon whatever we are doing. The problems are unfounded allegations, comments that are without basis. It is important that critics focus on the process, not the person.
“I believe we should have a process that is so strong that regardless of how malevolent Charlotte Osei wants to be, she should not be able to rig the elections,” she stated.
I won’t vote in 2016
Asked about who would be her preferred choice in the upcoming elections, Mrs Osei said: “I will not be voting on election day like you because I don’t want to. It is not compulsory, it is a special privilege.”
She asked Ghanaians to vote based on issues in the December general election.
“Who to vote for is entirely up to you but I would say that vote based on issues and where you want to see this country go and who you think can take this country there,” she advised.
Mrs Osei’s predecessor, Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan, also refrained from voting and indicated that it was to firm up his neutrality as he would not want to take sides.
The EC chair explained that the measures instituted by the commission would prevent double voting in the polls and that together with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), they were embarking on a sensitisation exercise to ensure the reduction in spoilt and rejected ballots.
‘NHIS voters’
On the voters register, Mrs Osei said the names of some persons who registered using National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cards as proof of their Ghanaian citizenship might still be on the register.
“It’s possible because of the human part… So it was a manual process…That is why the Supreme Court said ‘delete all those you have submitted, including those you will find’,” she said.
