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Indelible ink adds another layer to the integrity of elections; we won’t accept EC’s move to abandon it – Minority

GAPNEWS

Indelible ink adds another layer to the integrity of elections; we won’t accept EC’s move to abandon it – Minority

 


 

The Minority Leader Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has said that the Minority will not accept a move by the Electoral Commission to stop using inedible ink in elections.

Dr Forson stated that indelible ink adds another layer to the integrity of elections by ensuring that voters are visibly, transparently, and physically verified in addition to biometric verification.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday Febraury 6,  Dr. Ato Forson said, “Mr. Speaker, we will not countenance the elimination of indelible ink from the electoral process. We will not! Read my lips, we will not! Touch wood, we will not.”

The Minority Leader argued that the use of indelible ink during elections has been proven to be time-tested for identifying persons who have cast their vote, adding that it would be wrong on the EC's part to eliminate it.

“The truth of the matter is that the use of indelible ink in our electoral process does no harm to the conduct of free and fair elections in Ghana. In fact, indelible ink adds another layer to the integrity of elections by ensuring that voters are visibly, transparently, and physically verified in addition to biometric verification.”

The Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu also reiterated his call to the Electoral Commission not to abandon the use of indelible ink after stating that there could be multiple voting without the use of the indelible ink.

The database of the electoral commission as far as some of us do know doesn't talk to one another, the database of the regions talk to themselves, so you cannot vote in Suame and then run to Offinso North to vote, you would be caught because there it is synchronised but they don't go beyond the regions.

“So it is possible for one person to vote in Accra and dash to Bole to cast their vote. So to the fact that the database is not talking to themselves, it is important that we further guarantee any abuse of the system to resort to the use of the indelible ink. So we are appealing to the EC to reintroduce it,” he said on Tuesday Febraury 6.

Earlier, while speaking TV3's Beatrice Adu  the Suame lawmaker said, “Another thing I think the EC may have to have a second look at is their discontinuance of the usage of inedible ink, I think they should go back and reconsider it.

“In 2020, 70 percent of our polling centres had a voter threshold of 500 and below. This time we intend to ensure that all our polling station centers have a threshold of 500 voters and below. In the same vein, we will increase the number of our polling stations nationwide.

“We believe that this will go a long way to reduce the long queues that characterize our elections and allow for a smooth, seamless, hustle-free voting process. In 2020, it took voters not more than five minutes to cast their votes due to the introduction of this policy.

“Based on our 2020 experience and also feedback from several observer groups we propose to close the polls at 3:00pm.

“Our experience in 2020 reveals that by 1:00pm, 70 percent of our polling stations were empty of voters as most voters had cast their votes. This made it possible because the threshold of most polling centers was reduced to 500 voters per voting center.

“This was coupled with the robust verification devices that were deployed to the polling stations. We are convinced that by closing the polls at 3:00pm, we will be able to count and collate in broad daylight and this will promote the needed transparency and orderliness that we so desire,” Mrs. Mensa said.

 

 


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