Programs Manager for CDD Ghana, Paul Osei-Kuffour
The Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana has asked the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana to ensure that poll results are accessible and transparent.
According to the Programs Manager for CDD, Paul Osei-Kuffour, transparency on the part of the EC will help the institution build a high level of trust among Ghanaians.
He said, “EC should expand its communication process and decentralise it so that the EC can build a high level of trust going into to the elections.”
“The voting appears very smooth in most elections but the concerns have always been the counting and collation and declaration processes, where we suggested to the EC that they should find ways to promote transparency in the collation by making sure that the polling station results are easily accessible.”
He said this in an interview after a roundtable discussion ahead of the pending general elections, on October 11, 2024.
Osei-Kuffour explained that citizens need to be updated on the electoral process before and after the elections.
“Our observation is that the electoral process remains inclusive and that citizens need to know the mechanisms that the EC has deployed out, from the pre-election environment to the election day, and the post-election collation process,” he stated.
He further stated, “If you look at the last elections that was held, the documents that are mainly accessible to the public is the constituency collation result sheet.”
Osei-Kuffour emphasised the need for access to basic documents on collation results.
Considering the heightened tensions around this election, access to the basic unit document for collation results is critical so that the media, citizens and the public can also conduct their own tabulation of the results, so that they can compare with what will be declared,” he stated.
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