The Electoral Commission (EC) has moved to dispel suggestions by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that there is a deliberate attempt to destroy evidence of non-verification of voters during the December 7 elections.
The elections management body told state-owned Daily Graphic that a claim by the NDC that the EC was “illegally” deactivating Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs) used in the just-ended polls to hide of electoral malfeasance is untenable.
The clarification by the EC comes on the back of a press statement issued by the NDC cautioning the EC against deactivating any of the BVDs which were used in the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.
According to the party, deactivating the BVDs was illegal and a deliberate attempt to destroy evidence related to non-verification of voters in the elections.
The NDC in the statement also said that destroying documents before the period of one year is an electoral offence punishable, upon conviction, by two years’ imprisonment or five hundred penalty units or both.
“It has come to the attention of the National Democratic Congress that the Electoral Commission, through Dr. Yaw Ofori Adjei, has directed that all biometric devices used in the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections should be deactivated.
“This directive is illegal because Regulation 47 (3) of CI 127 states that ‘The Commission shall, subject to the provisions of these Regulations, (a) retain for a year, documents forwarded to the Commission; and (b) destroy the documents after a year unless otherwise directed by a court’”, the statement signed by NDC Director of Election, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, said.
But reacting to the allegations, Deputy Commissioner of the EC in charge of Corporate Services, Dr Bossman Eric Asare, told the Daily Graphic that even if the devices are deactivated, the information on them will not be destroyed.
“When you’re not voting, you don’t need them [BVDs] to be activated,” Dr Bossman Eric Asare, told the Daily Graphic in an interview on Sunday.
“When you deactivate, you haven’t destroyed the information,” he added.
Dr Asare stressed that all the information relating to the December 7 election was intact.
He said the EC would decide on the exact time to destroy any such information based on the law.
Dr Asare also stressed that deactivating the BVDs was standard procedure and normally happens after close of polls.
“It prevents the possible mischief of additional verification being done after polls have closed. Deactivation does not in any way delete the verification data that are on the BVDs,” the Daily Graphic report quotes Dr Asare.
According to the results released by the EC on the elections, the NDC lost both the parliamentary and presidential polls.
Official figures released by the EC says the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo won the polls after obtaining 51.48% of total votes cast while the candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama obtained 47.86% of the total votes.
Also according to the results, none of the two parties currently has a clear Majority in Parliament.
The NPP won 137 seats in Parliament while the NDC won 136 seats with one seat occupied by an independent candidate. A party needs at least 138 seats to form a Majority government.
The results for Sene West, which is being contested, is yet to be released.
The NDC says the elections have been stolen for the incumbent party.
Dr Eric Bossman Asare is EC Deputy Chairperson