By Godfred Amoaful
The Electoral Commission, EC, says it will begin the training of Collation officers it has appointed with the requisite electoral skills to assist the work of the returning officers at the constituency level on December 7.
This according to the EC is to enhance the integrity of the collation and offer a clear presentation of the results. Addressing political parties at an Inter-Party Advisory Committee, IPAC meeting in Accra, the Deputy Chairman in charge of Corporate Service, Dr. Eric Bossman Asare said these collation officers will work alongside the returning officer but independently.
The IPAC meeting discussed two major issues, the concerns about the accreditation of party representatives at the collation centers, and information on collation centers.
While explaining the work of the appointed collation officers, the EC also gave details on the number of representatives that parties can have at every level of the collation process.
On media, the EC said, it is still in consultation with Ghana Journalist Association, GJA to decide on the number of media houses to be allowed at the collation centers.
Speaking at the meeting the Deputy Chairman icharge of cooperate service, Dr Eric Bossman Asare said collation at the constituency centers will begin after the close of polls at the polling stations at 5 pm.
Addressing the issue of possible power outage on the Election Day, the Deputy Chairman in charge of operations Samuel Tetty said the commission has made provisions for extra electricity power.
The EC’s decision to use collation officers triggered reactions from some of the political parties.
One of them is the main opposition party the NDC. According to the Director of Elections of the NDC Dr Edward Omane Boamah, the appointment of these collation officers will contradict the work of the returning officers.
He indicated that the party is also worried about the commission’s failure to provide the list of EC officials for both the special voting and the December 7 polls on time
The EC further addressed the reported shortfalls that have been recorded in the printing of the Volta Regional ballot papers.
It says the commission directed its regional and district level as well as its staff to review and verify ballot papers received to ensure accuracy and to guarantee that tally with the ballot statistics provided to the printing press and political parties.
EC, however, said that the shortfalls in the Volta region papers are not peculiar to that region but also that of the “Greater Accra, Western North, Upper West, Western, and Bono East regions”.
It assured the public to keep their trust in the EC to deliver a credible and transparent election.
