The Electoral Commission (EC) has asked the public to disregard videos in which some persons were seen engaging in multiple voting during the referendum held on December 27 last year to create six additional regions.

According to the EC, “after analysing the videos and conducting the necessary investigations, our conclusion is that the videos are not real”.

Addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, Samuel Tettey, Deputy Commissioner in-charge of operations, EC, said the Commission was convinced the videos were put out there apparently to discredit the referendum and the integrity of the EC.

Explaining the EC’s position, he stated that all election officials were to wear the election officials’ jackets which was provided by the EC for the exercise and ordered to return them immediately after the results were declared at the polling station.

He said the EC insisted that the jackets should be worn throughout the voting period for security and identification reasons with reports from coordinators and officers confirming that the directive was strictly complied with.

However, all the officials captured in the video did not have the jacket on, he said.

Another reason for their stance, Mr Tettey noted that none of the Returning Officers have been able to identify the man engaging in multiple voting in the video, although all the polling officials were recruited and trained by the Returning Officers, technicians and the District Electoral Officers.



The Commission, he said, further observed that the ballots did not bear the conspicuous yellow and brown colours for Yes and No respectively as appeared on the ballots for the referendum.

Again, he stated that the logo on the papers on the next table was the old one without the coat of arms which was not used for the exercise.



On the second video which was taken from a location near a grave, Mr Tettey said that its investigations revealed that the said polling station, C.M.B Shed D180102, exist in the Jasikan District in the Oti Region.

When questioned, the man who took the video, he said, told the District Officer that he was excited to witness the referendum and decided to take a video with his phone.

Chairperson of the Commission, Jean Mensa, noted that the EC has referred the video to the police for further investigations.

She said the EC would not shield any staff or official who engage in illegality to smear the image of the Commission and called on the police to expedite action on the matter.