The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has intensified its calls for a forensic audit of the voter register, alleging the discovery of new evidence of illegal voter transfers.
According to the party’s Deputy Director of Elections and IT, Dr. Rashid Tanko, an ongoing examination of the register has uncovered further instances of illegal transfers, particularly in the Tolon constituency.
This follows the Electoral Commission’s recent admission that some of its officers had engaged in improper voter transfers. The NDC claims that in some cases, voters were transferred without appearing before returning officers, which is a violation of electoral regulations.
On Tuesday, thousands of NDC supporters took to the streets nationwide, putting pressure on the Electoral Commission to conduct a forensic audit of the register to address these irregularities.
Speaking in an interview monitored by ATL FM NEWS on Wednesday, September 18, Dr. Tanko stated that for the first time, individuals were found to have transferred their voting locations without following the required legal processes.
He claimed that “Somebody just sat at the Electoral Commission office and started transferring them by using their voter ID numbers. They are using their pictures and transferring them from their IT system, which accounts for the 15,000 we are talking of.”
“So, what happened is that these 15,000 people, although their names are in the register, don’t know that they have been removed from Accra, thrown to Bolga, some to Wa, like in the Tamale episode. When they quickly came out, they said, oh, only 38 people from Tamil. We are reversing,” he said.
Meanwhile, a political activist and a former presidential aspirant of the New Patriotic Party, Dr Arthur Kennedy raised concerns about the integrity of the voter registration process, claiming that the current register is bloated.
According to the political activist and a physician, the number of registered voters appears uneven when compared to the overall population.
Dr. Kennedy also expressed disappointment in the posture of the NPP and the Electoral Commission concerning the calls for a forensic audit by the Opposition NDC.
“The demands that the NDC is making on the surface of it seemed very mundane, and indeed the NPP to its credit has made very similar demands in the past. The question is why there is a need for a demonstration before those demands are met.”
“They should be enshrined in our constitution, you know, you do a register, you exhibit it, people correct the errors, and indeed the Electoral Commission cannot audit its way. For one thing, it is moving to a position where its integrity and impartiality are coming into question.”
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Source: Eric Sekyi/ATLFMNEWS
