We can’t declare wrong results – EC assures

The Electoral Commission (EC) has rejected results from a survey report which revealed that Ghanaians believe it could announce wrong tallied results on Election Day.

Speaking on Citi FM news analysis programme, The Big Issue, on Saturday, Head of Communications at the EC, Eric Kofi Dzakpasu insisted that it is practically impossible for such situation to happen.

Journalists with NMC accreditation will take part in special voting
“It’s a system which is robust and it is so verifiable that it is practically impossible for any single individual or group to manipulate and change election results,” he added.

A survey conducted by the Center for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana, revealed that though 63% of Ghanaians believe the EC will perform its duties neutrally, guided by law, almost half of the voter population believes that the commission will likely announce wrong vote tallies or switch election results.

“63 percent deem the prospect of their votes not being counted unlikely, but nearly a third remain skeptical, while a large minority (46%), believe it is very/somewhat likely that the wrong vote tally would be announced,” a release from the CDD added.

But Mr. Dzakpasu said persons who uphold such perception “lack understanding of our system of voting and declaration of results.”

“The issue of some large minority of voters not sure we will tally the election results properly are something of concern and…doesn’t auger well for a credible election. This is because the majority of the Ghanaian public are majority of stakeholders and it is very important to understand and appreciate the processes involved in declaration of results so that we can all be on the same page.”

Mr. Dzakpasu explained that the perception emanates from the low education of voters about the commission and electoral processes.

He said, to this extent, the commission will liaise with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and other stakeholders to embark a massive voter education exercise in coming weeks.

“…The commission, NCCE, Information Service, and other major stakeholders has the responsibility to bridge that gap before the December elections,” Mr. Dzakpasu added.