EC introduces new feature to authenticate voters after illegal vote transfer in Pusiga

The Electoral Commission (EC) has unveiled a new liveliness check feature in response to recent issues with voter verification.

This enhancement aims to confirm the authenticity of biometric data by ensuring that it is captured from a live person, rather than from static images or other sources.

This update follows an incident involving the illegal transfer of 38 voters in the Pusiga district.

During a press briefing in Accra on September 2, Deputy Chair Dr. Bossman Asare explained that this new feature is designed to prevent misuse of biometric data, such as the use of photographs instead of live verification.

In light of the incident, the EC has suspended Haruna Muniru, the District Officer for Pusiga, due to allegations of unauthorized voter transfers.

“Following this incident, the Commission has introduced a liveliness check in the verification process which is a feature designed to ensure that the biometric data being captured is from a live present human being and not from a spruced source such us photographs which was what was done in this case,” he said.

The investigation revealed that these transfers occurred with the aid of an Electoral Commission official’s credentials, and the data from these transfers have been logged in the audit blocks of the voter management systems.

“Preliminary investigation by the Commission have revealed that voter transfer were indeed effected for 38 individuals using the credentials of Electoral Commission official. The records of those transfer are captured in the voter management systems audit blocks.

“A look at the verification done during the transfer process shows that the photos of the voters from the voter ID cards were used for official verification and to effect the transfers,” he noted.

Dr. Asare noted that the verification process for these transfers relied on voter ID photos rather than live verification.