The Director of Elections and IT for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Rashid Tanko-Computer, has described the situation regarding the error in serialisation of ballot papers for the Ketu South and Ketu North constituencies as terrible.
He claimed, “We saw that, especially in Ketu South and Ketu North, the situation was terribly bad, so they were trying to make amends. But we decided that we needed to check all the others that they have printed because our agents continue to tell us that those ballot papers could not be used for the intended purpose.”
Dr Tanko-Computer explained that the anomalies were identified by the NDC’s agents stationed at the various printing presses, who then brought the issue to the attention of the Electoral Commission (EC).
According to him, if these flawed ballot papers had been allowed to enter the system, they “would have resulted in a lot of rejected ballots” on December 7.
Dr Tanko-Computer made these statements on Joy News’ Newsfile on Saturday, November 16.
The EC had recently announced that, during the printing of ballot papers for the December elections, concerns had been raised regarding the serialisation of ballots in both the Ahafo and Volta regions.
Ketu South and Ketu North constituencies are strongholds of the NDC. Over the years, it has been alleged by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) that foreign nationals, mostly from Togo, come into the country to vote in these two constituencies. Both constituencies are border districts, adjacent to the neighbouring Republic of Togo.
Meanwhile, the EC has stated that it will reprint all ballot papers for the Volta and Ahafo regions due to incorrect serial numbers.
The NDC has since expressed concerns about the EC’s credibility and its ability to ensure a free and fair election.
On his part, the Deputy Chairman of Corporate Services at the EC, Dr Bossman Asare, also spoke on the show, stating that it was not the NDC that notified the EC of the error.
He clarified that the EC identified the issue through their own staff who were monitoring the printing process.