NDC demands independent forensic audit of voters register and five-day re-exhibition
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called for an independent forensic audit of the 2024 provisional voters register (PVR) and a five-day re-exhibition of the register. This, according to the NDC will help ensure accuracy and integrity.
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At a closed door meeting with the Electoral Commission on Friday afternoon, the NDC said it had become necessary for an independent forensic audit of the voters register due to errors and anomalies it said it had detected during the recent exhibition exercise.
The NDC made a power point presentation at the meeting with the EC where examples of some of the anomalies the party said it had found including voter transfers to different polling stations but the names do not appear on the absent list on the original polling station where the transfer was made from.
Others, the NDC said are voter transfers that were made in 2023 but have still be added to the 2024 transfers, unidentified voter transfer paths and others.
In summary, the NDC compared voters in the 2023 register with the 2024 provisional register given to the NDC by the EC by using SQL Database, the party tried to verify if a voter is present in the current register or not, if any voter has his or her polling station changed (Legal or Illegal) and to check the categories of transfers that have occurred over the period.
Speaking at the meeting, the Director of Elections at the NDC, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, who represented the party, expressed concern over what he referred to as a “defective register”, citing delayed release of the provisional register, errors, and illegal voter transfers.
“If we had had enough time, the EC may not have found itself in this quagmire of numerous avoidable errors that have confronted Ghanaians since the register was exhibited. As usual, we would have shared the detected defects with the EC,” he said.
The NDC, he said had identified numerous discrepancies, including unauthorised transfers of voters, and is seeking answers on the extent of manipulation, system vulnerabilities, and the impact on the upcoming elections.
“If a forensic audit could be avoided, we would never have opted for that path – unfortunately, under the present circumstances, a forensic audit is unavoidable and non-negotiable,” he said.
The party has urged the EC to convene an emergency meeting with stakeholders to discuss the issues and conduct the forensic audit.