EC says 'if someone steals BVDs, they can't use them'

The Electoral Commission (EC) has clarified that it is five of its laptops that have been stolen.

The minority caucus, on Tuesday, 19 March 2024, called for prompt action from the police regarding the alleged disappearance of seven biometric verification devices (BVDs), expressing concerns about potential implications for the upcoming December polls.

The alleged missing biometric devices, according to the caucus, were intended for voter registration and verification by the Electoral Commission ahead of its limited voter registration exercise.

During a press briefing in Parliament, Minority Leader Cassiel Ato Forson urged the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Ghana Police Service to swiftly investigate the whereabouts of the missing devices.

Dr. Forson stated, "The Electoral Commission confirms that seven of the biometric devices are indeed missing. I urge the CID and the Ghana Police Service to immediately issue a statement providing details of their investigation progress thus far."

Expressing concern over the potential consequences, Dr. Forson emphasised the importance of locating the devices promptly. He highlighted the risk of compromised future elections should the devices fall into unknown hands, questioning whether they might be in possession of a political party and expressing worry over potential misuse.

"I am concerned and worried because those devices in the hands of an unknown person can compromise the future elections that Ghana will have. Who knows whether this is in the hands of a political party? And who knows what that political party is doing with it? I am disturbed," Dr. Forson remarked.

In a response, however, Dr. Bossman Asare, the deputy chair in Charge of Corporate Services, said: “We are fully ready for the election and we can confirm that five laptops have been stolen and these are laptops that do not contain any information about anyone. They do not contain information, so there are no risks."

He went on: “We are also picking up information that people are contradicting the BVDs and the BVRs. BVDs are used for verification and BVRs are for registration."

“You will have to connect the two devices before you can use them and with the BVDs, they are used only when we are going to vote", he explained.

Dr Asare added: "If someone steals the BVDs, they cannot use them and we want to emphasise that five laptops are missing and we are working with the police to retrieve them.”

-Classfmonline