The Electoral Commission as part of strategies to ensure transparency in this year’s election, has announced that it will permit cameras at the national collation center at its headquarters.
The Commission has also announced plans to ensure that results from polling stations and collation centres from the constituencies, are credible and transparent.
Speaking during an encounter with the Editors Forum- Ghana in Accra on Thursday, Chairperson of the EC, Charlotte Osei, was hopeful some innovations adopted by the commission would contribute to the success of a free and fair election.
She noted that, the election results will be collated at three points; namely, polling stations, constituency collation centres, and finally at the National collation centre.
The EC chairperson also told the editors that election results from the polling stations will also be published on the EC’s website to reduce tension which usually characterizes electioneering periods in the country.
“So there are three sets of results—polling station, constituency, and they must tally with the one at the national collation centre. So it is only when that process has been finalized and everybody is satisfied before we would announce the final result of the presidential at the EC head office. Prior to this, once the results have been agreed upon at constituency collation centers for the parliamentary, the announcement will be made there by the returning officer and we would know who the successful parliamentary candidates are,” she added.
TV cameras to be allowed at national collation centre
Charlotte Osei also hinted that, TV cameras would have access to the national collation centre in Accra in order to broadcast happenings at the place to Ghanaians.
“For the first time, at the national collation one, we would allow the TV cameras in so that everyone can see the process as the results come in from the 275 collation centres as we are putting them together, the whole country would have the privilege of walking with us along that journey.”
She also reiterated the commission’s inability to rig the election in favour of any party.
“…This makes it very difficult for anyone to play mischief, for anyone to amend the results because all the candidates and the party agents have the results. And so it is really impossible for the chair of the Electoral Commission even working in concert with all the six other commission members, to change any of the results because we lack the ability to be at the 29,000 polling stations and the 275 constituencies, and we also lack the ability to grab the results that are being held by the candidates and all the party’s agents and amend all that before we amend the final one.”
The Electoral Commission in August 2016, begun the implementation of a series of reforms aimed at improving the transparency, inclusiveness and credibility of the upcoming elections.
The comprehensive list of reforms, (27 in number), was the product of a Special Reform Committee set up by the EC after the 2012 Election Petition.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
