Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has reassured the Electoral Commission (EC) that the drones the party plans to use for monitoring the upcoming general election will not violate voters’ privacy.
The Electoral Commission has expressed concern, stating that the use of drones would infringe on voters’ electoral privacy and breach security protocols.
However, Gbande emphasized that the party would strictly adhere to all electoral rules by flying the drones outside the voting perimeter. He emphasized that this measure is aimed at contributing to a free and fair election process.
Gbande made these remarks during an interview on JoyNews’ Election Brief on March 12.
“My assurance to the Electoral Commission is that the drone strategy in the Greater Accra region will not include the voting and polling station perimeters, where nobody is supposed to walk or move within.
“When you go to a voting centre or a polling station, there is a certain perimeter that is cordoned that no one is supposed to move.
“The purposes of having that perimeter is for the safety of the voter and then the assurance of secrecy of the voting process. They can be rest assured that it will not affect the perimeter of voting,” he said.
Mr. Gbande emphasized that the party’s preparations are based on lessons learned from the 2020 elections. He stated that in the upcoming polls, the drones will be used to detect any electoral misconduct.
“Beyond that, we can even monitor when people are using election materials. We were in this country in 2020 when they printed excess ballot papers. We knew that. So if we intend to monitor even the EC’s activity going into 2024 to ensure that nobody moves fake materials into any area for the purposes of rigging an election, we believe it is our strategy and it does not flout any law,” he added.
The Deputy General Secretary of the NDC added that the drone will only be deployed in the Greater Accra region.