In the wake of the unauthorised vote transfers, the Electoral Commission (EC) has implemented a new function to verify voters.
Following the unauthorised transfer of 38 voters in Pusiga, there is a liveliness check as part of the voter verification process.
At a media event in Accra on Monday, September 2, Deputy Chair of the Electoral Commission Dr. Bossman Asare stated that the new feature is to authenticate and cross-check voter biometric data.
“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.
Amidst claims of illicit voter transfers in the district, the Commission has placed Haruna Muniru, the District Officer for Pusiga, under suspension.
According to the EC’s investigation, 38 voter transfers occurred in the Pusiga district with their approval, the EC said.
According to Dr. Bossman Asare, the transfer was carried out using an electoral officer’s credentials, and the voter management system audit blocks contain the records of that transfer.
“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.
According to the Commission, investigations are still on and its suspended official is still under police custody.