Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) has denied allegations by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that it has imported special pens able to erase ink marks on election result sheets in a bid to rig Wednesday’s polls.
Charlotte Osei, the chairperson of the Commission in a press briefing ahead of the elections said, no such move has been initiated as the commission is committed to delivering credible elections.
The New Patriotic Party in a video footage last week alleged that the EC had procured the pens with the aim of changing declared election figures to favour the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) but the EC chair at the media interaction said, “It is also untrue, rumours have gone around that the Electoral Commission has imported erasable pens for use in the coalition process. The EC has not imported any erasable pens. Just like all the candidates we need the valid results as declared in public.”
“Even if it were possible for us to use these erasable pens to change the results on our copies, it is impossible to go and grab the results from all the agents to the candidates and also change their own,” Charlotte Osei said.
She added that the Commission has introduced various integrity measures to ensure the polls were free, fair and transparent.
She called on the media to support the commission to effectively carry out its mandate by among other things verifying rumours before reporting them.
‘EC bans alcohol, motorbikes at polling stations’
She also used the opportunity to announce a ban on the use of motorbikes within a 400-metre radius around the various polling stations.
It says it had instructed security personnel to block access routes to persons who intend using motorbikes at the various polling stations.
Charlotte Osei at the press conference said, “We want to remind the public that the sale of alcohol within 500 meters of a polling station is prohibited. In addition the Police have determined that within the hours of 5:00pm tomorrow and 6:00am on December 8th, the use of motorbikes are not permitted. In addition to this, on Election Day, motorbikes are not permitted within 400 meters of a polling station.”
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana