We can’t alter results to favour any political party – Jean Mensa

Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) Jean Mensa has reaffirmed her outfit’s commitment to ensuring that the will of the people is reflected in results in the upcoming December polls.

Briefing Parliament ahead of the elections, she said the commission would ensure that the electorate’s choice for leader is maintained and that there would be no rigging to favour any political party.

The EC chair explained that the electoral body currently operates a manual system through which results are transferred from the various polling stations across the country to the EC headquarters in Accra.

With these results, respective polling agents have copies, making it impossible for any alteration to take place at the helm.

“I will like to assure you that whatever comes from the ground and it goes from the polling stations where all the agents of the parties are to the constituency collation centres where the agents of the party are.”

“A tabulation is done in their presence and then from there is goes to the regional collation centres where the agents of the parties are and then it comes to the national and it is not transmitted. It is hard copies of documents that are coming.

“So it is pink sheets that are scanned that are sent by fax and email that come through and we believe that by that time, the party should have copies of all these on their telephones to enable you to verify.”

On the back of these, the EC Chair assured that it is virtually impossible for her outfit to manipulate the outcome of the polls.

“So I like to assure you that there is absolutely no way that at the helm of affairs the commission can change anything because the documentation comes from the ground and we believe that you have copies,” she said.

Meanwhile, she assured that the EC will maintain transparency in the December elections.

“From the registration to the declaration, our processes are embedded with one key ingredient, and that is transparency, transparency, transparency. As such we will continue to operate in the spirit of transparency, fairness and integrity as embedded in our motto,” she assured.