The largest opposition party National Democratic Congress (NDC) says it suspects that the stolen Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits of the Electoral Commission (EC) could be used to illegally register people onto the Voters register.
In April, the EC disclosed that some BVR kits had been stolen from its premises. Three persons were later arrested and currently being prosecuted over the theft.
The NDC requested the EC to furnish them with the serial numbers of the BVR kits currently being used for the ongoing Limited Voter Registration process, but the EC has declined insisting that such a move is dangerous.
“Releasing these serial numbers to any external parties, including political entities, poses a substantial risk to the security and integrity of our registration processes. That is why this has never been done since biometric voting system was introduced in Ghana.
“The Electoral Commission has nothing to hide. It is important to note that the demand for serial numbers of BVRs, if granted, could pose major risks to the security and integrity of our electoral system and operations. Prevention of such risks by declining this request, far outweighs any concerns and interests of individual stakeholders,” the Electoral Management body said in a statement.
But addressing journalists on Thursday, May 9, the National Chairman of NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, said, “The NDC has always been suspicious that the stolen kits could be used to illegally register some people in order to add them to the voters register to enable them to vote on December 7, 2024. That remains our suspicion.”
The EC commenced a limited voters registration exercise to register persons who have turned 18 and those who were not able to register the last time around. The exercise is expected to end on May 27, 2024.