The Electoral Commission (EC) has said that it
has redefined ‘over- voting’ in elections, explaining that it would have nothing
to do with the number of people in the voters’ register ahead of the polls in
December.According to the EC, over voting would be declared only when
the number of ballots collated is more than the verified voters, and would no
longer be associated with the number of persons on the voters’
roll.
“We’ve agreed with IPAC [to amend] the definition of over-voting.
Basically, over voting is not tied to the number of voters on the register. Over
voting would occur when the number of valid votes exceeds the number of people
who have been verified to vote,” the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission,
Charlotte Osei explained at an Editors’ Forum on Tuesday.
“When we
combine those who were biometrically verified and those who were manually
verified and the number of ballots exceeds it, we know we have had over voting.
So the number of persons on the register is no longer tied to the definition of
over voting but we’ve reduced the numbers just to ensure that we have an easier
and more efficient electoral process.”
Over-voting was one of the
contentious issues raised by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) during the
2012 election petition.
The NPP had disputed the EC’s definition of
over-voting as they challenged the validity of the election results.
EC
announces reforms
The EC also announced that, it had begun implementing
a series of reforms aimed at improving the transparency, inclusiveness and
credibility of the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections in
December.
The comprehensive list of reforms, (27 in number), was the
product of a Special Reform Committee set up by the EC after the 2012 Election
Petition.
The Committee was tasked to synthesize the various reforms
proposed by the panel of Justices of the Supreme Court and political parties.
Membership of the Committee included representatives of the political parties,
governance institutions and Civil Society Organisations.
The 27 reform
proposals which were accepted and are being implemented by the EC are as
follows:
Hold Presidential and Parliamentary elections in November
instead of December. EC to do continuous registration as well as periodic
registration.
Election Officials & Party Agents to take oaths before a
Magistrate or Judicial officer instead of an officer of the
Commission. Institutionalize IPAC.
Use of the Biometric Verification
Device for exhibition of the Provisional Voters Register.
EC to raise the
minimum educational qualification requirements for various levels of election
officials.
EC should improve quality of training of election officials and EC
staff.
PWDs and vulnerable persons should be given priority at polling
stations.
EC should make clear provisions regarding processes and procedures
to be followed upon an adjournment of the poll.
EC should improve the
Compensation package for Election officials.
EC should serially number the
statement of Polls and the Declaration of results sheets. EC should set up a
National Collation Centre to replace the “strong room”.
EC to appoint
collation officers for each constituency.
EC to defer adoption of electronic
voting.
EC must ensure that election officials who breached electoral laws
are sanctioned.
EC should take steps to reduce rejected ballots.
EC should
extend the period of notice for Voter Registration exercise from 14 to 21
days.
EC should be given the mandate to apply to the courts to delete names
of unqualified persons from the Provisional Voters’ Register.
EC should be
required by law to give a copy of the Final Certified Register to Registered
Political Parties at least 21 days before the elections.
EC to reduce the
number of voters per polling station.
EC should publish an annual calendar of
its activities at the beginning of an Election year.
EC should publish a list
of all polling stations with their codes and locations not later than 42 days to
the elections. EC accepted 21days.
Returning Officers should give copies of
Proxy, Special and Absent Voters lists to Candidates/Parties. Returning
Officers to issue copies of collation sheets to Candidates/Agents.
EC to
expand the list of special voters to include accredited media personnel and
election observers. GJA to provide the list of accredited media to the EC. EC
to publish Presidential Election Results per polling station on its
website.
EC to define the term “ordinarily Resident”.
The Commission is of
the view that, the implementation of this comprehensive list of reforms, will
make the outcome of the 2016 elections credible and acceptable to all the
stakeholders involved.
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