The Deputy Chairman of Operations of the Electoral Commission, Samuel Tetteh, has stated that the calls by the opposition National Democratic Congress for the provisional voters register to be audited are misplaced.

At a press briefing on Thursday, September 12, 2024, he stated that the EC has the responsibility and capacity to address discrepancies in the provisional voters register and would not require an independent body to audit its work.

"We have also noted comments by the NDC to the effect that the very doctor that created the problem should not be the doctor that will resolve the problem. The EC must agree for an independent body to audit them. The commission has been doing this since 1992. It has the experience to do this and does not require any external organization to do its work.

"We reiterate that the law makes provision for the self auditing of the voters register through the voters exhibition exercise. The exercise makes available the provisional copy of the register and allows citizens to verify their details and point out discrepancies with their details. Additionally, the same law allows for the correction of these discrepancies by the EC at all levels, from the field to the districts to the head office," he stated.

He urged the NDC to trust the EC to correct all discrepancies identified in the provisional register.

"This is the laid down, tried and tested process and it works. What then is the purpose of the proposed forensic audit? The commission is of the view that such an audit will add no value whatsoever to the well defined, tried and tested process documented for the cleaning and strengthening of the provisional voters register. The question is, should the forensic audit be conducted? Who will fix the discrepancies in the register? The answer is it is the same commission that will fix the discrepancies and that is what we are doing.

"It is for this reason that the EC is of the view that the call for a forensic audit is misguided. The commission believes that, as has been the case in the past, the exhibition exercise will continue to the strengthening of the voters registered," he stated.

The NDC has called for a forensic audit of the provisional register and will be staging a nationwide protest on September 17, 2024.



JKB/ ADG

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