11 November 2008
The December elections will be free, fair and transparent, says Mr. Christian Owusu-Pare, acting Director of Public Affairs, Electoral Commission (EC).
He said the "inbuilt integrity and transparency of the system" makes it impossible for any officer or worker of the Commission to manipulate the electoral process to anybody's advantage.
Mr Owusu-Pare gave the assurance at a day's capacity building workshop for media personnel in the Central Region at Cape Coast.
The workshop was to build the capacity of media personnel on electoral reporting to enable them disseminate the right information to the public.
Mr Owusu-Pare said the activities of the Commission are always verifiable, and it is because of its transparent nature that personnel of the National Security and representatives of the various political parties are invited to observe the printing of the ballot papers.
Mr Owusu-Pare said the Commission has also taken some precautionary measures against double voting and that the silicon component in the indelible ink has been increased to make it impossible to erase.
He disclosed to journalists that some very look-alike photographs in the Voters' Register would soon be referred to the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to ascertain whether they were involved in double registrations for the culprits to be brought to book.
He urged media personnel to endeavour to be conversant with the electoral processes to enable them correct misinformation from some politicians and to also avoid sending wrong information to the public.
Mr. Owusu-Pare reminded the media not to confuse returning officers and polling assistants as electoral officers because electoral officers are permanent staff of the Commission.
Mr. Samuel Tettey, Regional Director of the EC in his welcoming address also tasked the media to be circumspect and desist from reports that could inflame passions during the December polls.
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