The Electoral Commission (EC) is proposing an amendment to Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) 127 to give legal backing to the electronic storage of scanned polling-station results, following disruptions and destruction of result sheets recorded during the 2024 general election.
The proposed amendment is intended to provide a secure electronic backup of election results while retaining physical result sheets as the primary legal record.
Speaking at the Quarterly Inter-Party Dialogue organised by the National Peace Council (NPC) in Accra on Tuesday, the Director of Electoral Services of the EC, Mr Samuel Dottoh Kwaah, said the Commission had identified a number of operational challenges following the 2024 polls, particularly incidents involving the disruption and destruction of result sheets at some collation centres.
He explained that the absence of a system for transmitting scanned copies of polling-station results to a secure portal during the elections exposed the electoral process to the risk of losing crucial records when physical result sheets were disrupted or destroyed.
Mr Kwaah said the proposed amendment would provide the legal basis for scanned copies of polling-station results to be stored on a dedicated electronic portal and relied upon in the event of disputes.
“The physical results will still be maintained. This is only an administrative measure to ensure that if there is any challenge, we can resort to the scanned results,” he stated.
He said the current C.I. 127 did not provide for the transmission or use of scanned copies of polling-station results as evidence, making an amendment necessary to give the proposed system legal backing.
Mr Kwaah stressed, however, that the proposal did not mean Ghana was preparing to adopt electronic voting.
He said the EC had no immediate plans to replace paper ballots, adding that Ghana currently lacked the technological infrastructure required to implement electronic voting nationwide, although the Commission remained open to exploring the option in the future.
The Director also expressed concern over the lack of prosecutions for electoral offences committed during the 2020 and 2024 general elections, warning that failure to punish perpetrators could embolden others to engage in similar acts.
He urged the security agencies to investigate and prosecute offenders to deter future electoral violence and protect the integrity of subsequent elections.
The Chairman of the NPC, Most Rev. Emmanuel Fianu, called on political parties to place the national interest above partisan considerations, stressing that sustained dialogue remained key to preserving Ghana’s peace and democratic stability.
He described the engagement as one of the most constructive the Council had organised, as discussions among political parties were becoming more objective and solution-oriented.
According to Rev. Fianu, the ultimate objective of the dialogue was to encourage political parties to engage one another candidly while focusing on the country’s development rather than partisan interests.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH & PRINCE ADDO FRIMPONG
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