The Electoral Commission (EC) has killed off the last hope in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for a forensic audit of the Provisional Voters Register (PVR).
The EC stated that the existing legal and administrative procedures designed to rectify the register have not been fully employed, rendering a forensic audit unnecessary at this time.
This position was communicated in a letter sent to NDC Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, following a petition from the party after its demonstration on Tuesday, September 17, 2024.
The letter was also shared with significant stakeholders, including the Majority and Minority Leaders of Parliament, civil society organizations, the diplomatic community, and religious institutions such as the National Peace Council, the Christian Council of Ghana, the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, the Chief Imam, and the Ahmadiyya Mission, reaffirming the EC’s stance on the issue.
No basis
Insisting that there is no basis for a forensic audit of the PVR, the Commission stated, “The Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) 91 recognizes that the PVR is a draft Register and recognizing that the PVR is bound to contain discrepancies, the framers of the C.I. 91, instituted the mechanism of the Exhibition Exercise to allow for the cleaning and revision of the PVR to ensure that it is credible and robust for an election.
“The Register is thus displayed in all Polling Stations (Exhibition Centres) and Online to allow for inspection and corrections where necessary.
“In essence, the Exhibition Exercise provides the legal basis to clean the PVR. You will agree with us that as with any human endeavour, such as the Registration of Voters, there are bound to be discrepancies. One cannot therefore expect the Provisional Register to be foolproof.
“It is for this reason that Regulation 23 of C.I. 91 provides clear and well-defined pathways to cure and deal with likely anomalies that are bound to arise from the Registration of Voters, including missing names, errors in biographical data, duplicates, the existence of deceased persons on the Register, incorrect designation of Polling Stations, among others. Thankfully, there exist legal and administrative remedies to resolve all post-registration issues.”
Online exhibition
The EC assured the NDC that it will re-exhibit the corrected PVR online before the final version is printed for the 2024 General Elections.
“The Commission intends to implement an Online Exhibition of the PVR at no cost to Registered Voters. Voters will be able to report on anomalies with their details within a time frame to be made available to the Public. The Voters Register will be displayed Online until the Election Day,” it stated.
