General Secretary of the People's National Convention (PNC) Atik Mohammed has punched holes in the Electoral Commission's (EC) quest to electronically transmit the 2016 election results.
Head of Communications for the EC, Mr. Eric Kofi Dzakpasu has revealed that the Commission's idea to transmit the election results electronically is part of the 27 operational administrative guidelines set up by the Electoral Reform Committee.
He explained on Okay FM’s 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show that the Electoral Reform Committee's work is divided into two; one being operational (administrative) comprising 27 guidelines and the other borders on legal issues which need Parliamentary approval.
But according to Atik Mohammed, the electronic transmission of the election results is not feasible due to certain complications he outlined on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo'.
Atik Mohammed told host Kwami Sefa Kayi that he doesn't trust politicians and so would not bet on the success of the exercise in the hands of various political parties who would have to play an instrumental role in transmitting the results from the polling stations.
He hoped there would be no exploitation of the system by the political actors.
“Transmitting results from 29000 polling stations, it’s not going to be an easy task. It means you’re supposed to be scanning 29000; it’s not going to be easy . . . We’re trying to perfect the system but we’ve not reached there yet. So, why do we want to create an opportunity? And to tell you the truth, I don’t trust politicians in Ghana.”
He further noted that the exercise also "comes with cost . . . we shouldn't make democracy so expensive and out of reach."
Touching on the EC's extension of the re-registration exercise, Atik Mohammed advised electorates who failed to check their names during the exhibition to seize the opportunity to re-register before the December polls this year.
“All those who were affected by this NHIS registration and whose names were produced by the Electoral Commission, please do not take it for granted that oh, once you registered once and you don’t do it; the Electoral Commission cannot remove your name. If you don’t go to cross-check and to make sure that you’re re-registered, you will not be allowed to vote on the Election Day because your name would have been deleted from the register. So, this is an important exercise everybody who was affected by this arrangement should take seriously and make sure that the person will go and get re-registered," he said. |
| |
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment