New Regions: EC Clears Ballot Stuffing Officials During Referenda

The Electoral Commission (EC) has given a clean bill of health to some of its officials who were alleged to be involved in some electoral offences during the referenda to create six additional administrative regions across the country.

The Minority in Parliament accused the EC and its officials of engaging in electoral fraud after it intercepted some videos going viral on social media where some assigned officials to some polling stations were seen undertaking multiple voting as well as stuffing ballots.

The accusation backed by the circulated video brought the credibility of the EC into disrepute.

This led to the electoral body launching a probe into the matter and after weeks of internal investigations, the EC says its officers did no wrong as far as the polls were concerned.

At a media briefing on Tuesday, April 16, 2019, on findings made so far, Deputy Chairperson in charge of operations, Samuel Tetteh revealed that internal investigation proves that no EC official engaged in electoral fraud whatsoever.

“The videos that circulated on the social media immediately after the referenda alleging or suggesting multiple voting was a source of worry to the Commission. After analysing the videos and conducting the necessary investigations, our conclusion is that the videos are not real”, he said.

He further explained that the EC on the day of the polls instructed all officials to wear their official jackets in order for them to be well identified.

The persons spotted in the video, he indicated were seen not wearing the official EC jacket hence cannot be tagged as officials of the Electoral Commission.