The Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr., has launched a scathing criticism against Electoral Commission (EC) officials regarding errors in figures initially published during the ongoing Limited Voter Registration Exercise.
He expressed incredulity at the EC’s struggle with the basic task of tallying the total number of registered individuals.
The Electoral Commission encountered challenges in accurately reporting the total number of registered persons on Days 2 and 3 of the exercise across Ghana’s sixteen regions.
However, in a press release dated May 12, the EC acknowledged these errors and assured the public that they had been rectified.
Quoting the EC’s statement, which admitted mistakes in the cumulative totals for days two and three but clarified that regional numbers were accurate, Pratt criticized the commission’s competence on Peacefm’s “Kokrokoo” morning show.
He questioned how Ghanaians could trust an electoral body that struggled with basic arithmetic, especially during a simple registration exercise marred by numerous issues. Pratt raised concerns about the implications of such errors for future elections.
Expressing disbelief at the EC’s inability to perform simple addition, Pratt emphasized the importance of accuracy and competence in the electoral process. He highlighted the irony of an Electoral Commission unable to perform basic mathematical operations essential for its function.
“The Electoral Commission has corrected errors in the previously released daily voter registration numbers. The inaccuracies were in the cumulative totals for days two and three, though the regional numbers were correct. The Upper East’s day three’s total was mistakenly repeated for day four. These have been amended,” the EC’s statement read.
“Is the Electoral Commission saying that they cannot do simple addition? A whole electoral body like the Electoral Commission cannot do a simple addition. How can Ghanaians repose confidence in you?
“This is just a registration exercise which has been characterised by abysmal happenings. What then will they do about the general elections when it is held?
“These errors in the results by the Electoral Commission, how do you explain it? We’ve gone to register names. We have the tallies; simple addition, the Electoral Commission cannot do it…
“I can’t understand this; a whole Electoral Commission cannot do addition. There is no subtraction, division or multiplication and you can’t do this”, he charged.