The Electoral Commission (EC) has reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the electoral process. With the elections fast approaching, the EC’s assurance is critical in maintaining public trust and confidence in the democratic process.
This reassurance comes in the wake of criticism surrounding errors detected in data published during the ongoing limited voter registration exercise. However, the Commission promptly addressed these concerns by acknowledging and rectifying specific inaccuracies in the provided infographics. Notably, the EC emphasized that these corrections did not compromise the overall integrity of the registered voter statistics.
During an engagement with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and other key stakeholders, EC Chairperson Jean Mensa reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to transparency and accuracy. Mrs. Mensa’s assurances aimed to instill confidence in the Commission’s ability to facilitate fair and credible elections.
In addressing the errors, Mrs. Mensa explained, “Whilst I do not hold brief for the team, because they were relying on Coral Draw to come up with these pie charts and graphs and so on, they were doing it manually. And so what we have done is go back to the drawing board and use Excel.”
She further clarified, “And so we may not have those colourful graphs, and the focus should not be on that because the application that was being used was not able to do accurate tabulations, so you will find that people had to do it manually. So the Coral Draw has been abandoned, and Excel has been applied. But again, I say this because we are a listening Commission and intend to build trust, you come back and let the people know what went wrong and what has been done.”
The EC’s reaffirmation of its commitment to accuracy and transparency is crucial in ensuring the integrity of the electoral process and maintaining public trust.