Manual verification will be allowed at the December polls – EC



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The president of the Electoral Commission, Ms Jean Mensa, says that the Commission will allow manual verification of voters in the December elections.

He said the decision was to ensure that no voter was deprived of the right to vote as provided for in Constitutional Instrument 127.

Ms Mensa was answering a question from the minority leader in Parliament, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, during a briefing by the Commissioner on the Commission’s preparation for the presidential and parliamentary elections.

They were present at the briefing; Mr. Samuel Tettey, Vice President of Operations, Dr. Bossman Eric Asare, Vice President of Corporate Services, Mr. Kye Duodo, Procurement Officer and Mr. Henry Ashong, Deputy Chief Financial Officer.

Ms. Mensa said, “However, we don’t expect a lot of manual checks …”

He said that as part of efforts to reduce manual verification, the Commission’s new biometric verification kits had fingerprint and facial verification elements, but voters who were unable to go through the biometric system would be manually verified.

The EC chief said that the election results would be transmitted manually, explaining that the Commission would set up fax and email systems to receive the results from the regions.

He said all political parties had received electronic copies of the voter registration, multiple lists and proxy lists to ensure transparency.

Ms. Mensa said that the Commission had acquired a wide variety of electoral materials, including ballot boxes, fingerprint pads, stationery, identification jackets, voting booths, rechargeable lamps, indelible ink, educational posters, stamps, among others, to a smooth electoral process.

“As we speak, the distribution of these items to our regions and districts is well under way. I can confirm that as a result of the painstaking planning and distribution mechanisms employed, we are 95% complete with the distribution of electoral materials at our various locations across the country. What we still have to deliver are the ballots and the records ”.

Ms. Mensa said that the Commission had purchased 74,800 new biometric verification devices and that they were preparing for the elections.

He said the Commission had prepared a new biometric voter registry with a total voter population of 17,029,971.

“We are confident in the credibility and integrity of the 2020 Voter Registry and are pleased with the collaboration and cooperation of citizens at all levels, particularly at the district level, as well as magistrates, to ensure that only eligible Ghanaians participate in the process, ”said Ms. Mensa.

He noted that 32,621 people had been included in the list of multiples and exceptions, with 18,619 people involved in multiple registrations, 14,002 participating in various illegal practices, including the voting of minors and the voting of non-Ghanaians.

Ms. Mensa said that the Commission had employed about 233,632 temporary staff comprised of returning officials and their deputies, presiding officials, verification officials, name reference officials, as well as COVID-19 ambassadors for the December 2020 elections. .

He said that a comprehensive training program had been developed for each category of officials to enable them to perform well on Election Day.

The EC chief said that the Commission had created 38,622 polling stations across the country and that the threshold established for polling stations was 749 voters per polling station.

He said that the Commission was in constant contact with security agencies under the auspices of the National Security Task Force and had provided them with relevant information to help them fulfill their duties on Election Day.



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