The Electoral Commission (EC) has said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) sanctioned the logo it used on the 2016 parliamentary ballot sheets, hence the party has no basis to raise concerns after the printing process.

“…High ranking officers of the party visited the printing houses regularly to monitor the process. At no point did they raise any objections about the NPP’s logo as it was being printed,” a statement from the EC said.

The leadership of the main opposition NPP in the Ashanti region has expressed disquiet over the nature of the parliamentary ballot papers that have been dispatched to the region by the EC. The party is worried that the ballot papers do not have the initials of the party, like it does for other political parties.

The EC delivered the ballot papers for the 47 constituencies in the Ashanti region today, Monday November 14.

However, in a statement to react to the party’s concerns, the EC said: “For the Parliamentary Notice of Polls and Ballot Sheets, the New Patriotic Party specifically indicated their satisfaction with the logo as processed for printing.

“During the printing process, not only did the party have its representatives at the printing houses at all material times, high ranking officers of the party visited the printing houses regularly to monitor the process. At no point did they raise any objections about the NPP’s logo as it was being printed.”

Below is the full statement:

CLARIFICATION: POLITICAL PARTY LOGO ON BALLOT SHEETS

The Commission’s attention has been drawn to reports in sections of the media suggesting that the Commission had printed a ‘wrong logo’ for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on the Parliamentary ballot sheets. We would like to place on the records that the claim is entirely inaccurate.

Below are the facts:

1. All Political Parties participating in this year’s elections worked closely with the Commission’s Directorate of Electoral Services to agree on the acceptable logo for their parties to be printed on the Notice of Polls and the ballots sheets.

2. For the Parliamentary Notice of Polls and Ballot Sheets, the New Patriotic Party specifically indicated their satisfaction with the logo as processed for printing.

3. During the printing process, not only did the party have its representatives at the printing houses at all material times, high ranking officers of the party visited the printing houses regularly to monitor the process. At no point did they raise any objections about the NPP’s logo as it was being printed.

4. For the avoidance of doubt, we have added the NPP’s official logo as it appears on the party’s letterheads. It is clear from the pictures that the party uses these two versions of their logo interchangeably. Both do not include the party’s acronym as now being claimed.

5. We would like to further place on the record that it is only for the Presidential Ballot that the NPP has specifically requested that its acronym should be added to the logo, and that has been done.

6. Therefore, it cannot be accurate that the Commission committed any design or printing errors as being speculated or claimed.

Thank you.

Signed:

ERIC KOFI DZAKPASU

Head of Communications