The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs. Jean Mensa, has said that the operations of the commission are open and transparent.
Reacting to the issue raised by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on the printing of extra ballot papers for the polls in December, Mrs. Mensa assured all stakeholders in Ghana’s electoral process that each ballot paper printed for the December 7, 2020 elections will be accounted for.
“Not one ballot paper will be included in a package that has not been accounted for. This will not happen. Our processes are open, transparent and robust and will remain so,” Mrs. Mensa said in a statement.
The NDC had at an emergency press conference on Sunday said that the EC was printing in excess of 150,000 ballot papers at the blind side of political party agents; that the ballot papers were without serial numbers and that the alleged excess ballot papers were being printed at another unit of the Assembly Press, which was headed by an appointee of the President.
According to local media reports on Wednesday, Mrs. Mensa wondered why the NDC would want to cause fear and panic and heighten tension in the lead up to the December elections.
She explained that the printing of ballot papers in excess of five percent to cater for instances such as spoilt ballots is a standard practice by the commission.
“In line with this policy, all printing houses have been directed to print the 2020 ballot papers in excess of five percent for all 38,630 polling stations across the country,” the reports quoted Mrs. Mensa as saying.
GIK/APA