The Electoral Commission (EC) seems unperturbed by concerns raised about its decision to transmit the results of the upcoming general election by electronic means.
Concerns had been raised by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), led by its Campaign Manager, Peter Mac Manu, about attempts by the elections organizing body to steer away from what had been agreed upon at an earlier Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting.
They had expressed fear that the results of the elections could be tampered with whiles being transmitted from the 29,000 polling stations spread across the country, instead of the initial 275 constituencies as agreed on at the IPAC meeting.
Mac Manu, who was former NPP National Chairman said, “Potentially, the results can be tampered with, and by that I mean modified mid-transmission, particularly in the absence of strong network security and encryption.
“Also, if the system starts sending and breaks down midstream, there could be confusion. We have seen that in Ecuador, where for two weeks the results were not coming. We have seen that in Mexico and we have also seen e-transmission failing in Kenya, which was the main reason behind their election petition in 2012.”
Contrary to what the NPP was pressing for, it turned out at a tender [bidding] process yesterday that the EC was still bent on transmitting the results of the 2016 general election from the 29,000 polling stations, using electronic means.
This was when IT firms shortlisted for the e-transmission contract appeared before the EC and the political parties to demonstrate how they were going to transmit the election results on voting day.
In all, three IT firms were shortlisted namely, Persol Systems, Scytl and Smartmatic.
Unfortunately however, the only Ghanaian [local] company, Persol that made it to the top, crushed out at the eleventh hour.
The remaining two companies are expected to do a demonstration exercise today to show how there are going to transmit the results electronically.
Even though the EC itself has said it would not declare a winner based on the results transmitted electronically, the NPP says it cannot fathom why the EC still insists on spending money on such an exercise, if not for ill motive.
“If the EC does not intend to declare results based on e-transmission, then for what purpose is that option to us?” Mac Manu asked when he first raised doubts about the commission’s intentions.
According to him, “The focus, we believe, should rather be on first ensuring that a certified true copy of the pink sheet, from each of the 29,000 stations, is brought to the National Collation Centre before the Chairperson of the EC finally declares the winner. They can all be brought to Accra within 48 hours from even the remotest part of Ghana.”
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