A pioneering advocacy organization, Election Validation Intelligence (EVI), has called for the linking of voters to ballots in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections to prevent fraud and ensure a tension-free electoral process.
In a proposal submitted to the Electoral Commission, EVI identified significant weaknesses in Ghana’s current electoral validation safeguards and auditability mechanisms, which could expose the electoral process to errors or manipulations.
“The inability to create reliable voter-to-ballot and register-to-ballot linkages impairs the ability of polling station officials or the court to identify and prevent voter impersonation, unauthorized voting, and multiple voting,” EVI stated.
To address this gap, EVI proposes extending voter ID endorsement to issued and counterfoil ballot papers, which would ensure that each ballot corresponds accurately to a registered voter.
“This will prevent issues such as impersonation, unauthorized voting, and multiple voting, thereby safeguarding the integrity of the electoral process,” EVI said.
The organization also proposes amending existing regulations or administrative procedures to include the endorsement of voter ID numbers on issued or tendered ballot papers and the recording of printed numbers of issued or tendered ballot papers against voter ID numbers in the register.
EVI believes that these proposals will significantly address the identified gaps and enhance validation safeguards for handling ballot-related disputes and ballot-box-related incidents.
“We respectfully request the Electoral Commission’s urgent attention to these proposals and are ready to provide further clarification or support to facilitate their adoption,” said Hans Akosah, Founder and President of EVI.
Meanwhile, PNP leader Janet Nabla has called for the digitalization of the electoral process to prevent fraud and ensure a transparent and credible election.
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