The Electoral Commission (EC) has once again rejected the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) request for a forensic audit of the Provisional Voters Register (PVR).
According to the EC, the existing legal and administrative processes for addressing issues in the register have not been fully utilized, making an audit unnecessary at this time.
This response was outlined in a letter to NDC Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, following a petition submitted by the party after its “Enough Is Enough” demonstration on September 17, 2024. The letter copied key stakeholders, including parliamentary leaders, civil society groups, diplomatic representatives, and religious organizations and reaffirmed the EC’s stance.
The EC argued that mechanisms to clean and revise the PVR are already in place, specifically referring to the Exhibition Exercise, a legal process under Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) 91, which allows for public review and corrections of discrepancies in the register. The EC acknowledged that the PVR may contain errors, but emphasized that the Exhibition Exercise is designed to address issues like missing names, data errors, and duplicates. It maintained that these remedies provide a sufficient and structured approach to ensuring the credibility of the voters’ register, without the need for an independent forensic audit at this stage.
In its petition, the NDC had called for an independent audit of the PVR and its IT system to investigate irregularities such as unauthorized log-ins, data discrepancies, and potential vulnerabilities in the EC’s registration infrastructure. Despite this demand, the EC reiterated that the existing legal framework is adequate for handling any post-registration concerns.