Address public concerns about presidential results error – CODEO to EC

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has said although the computational errors made by the Electoral Commission in the just-ended presidential elections does not affect its Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) estimates, it is important for the election management body to hold a public forum to address public concerns regarding the error the Chairperson made regarding the valid votes while declaring the results.

In a statement issued by the Coalition on Tuesday, 15 December 2020 and signed by its National Coordinator, Mr Albert Arhin, CODEO noted that the release its “2020 PVT estimates has generated some public interest and reaction, particularly following the EC’s press release on December 10, 2020 in which the Commission corrected certain errors in its previously announced official declaration.”

Addressing questions and misconceptions about its PVT statement, the Coalition noted that: “In its press release on December 10, 2020, the EC stated that: ‘The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission inadvertently used 13,433,573 as the total valid votes cast. The total valid votes cast is 13,119,460’.

It further noted that the Coalition “finds these computational errors on the part of the EC very unfortunate, as they create room for doubt about the integrity of the presidential election results declared by the Commission on December 9, 2020, and other disputed parliamentary results”.

CODEO said it is of the view that, “given what is at stake, the EC must go beyond passive publication of a press release to hold a public event to address the underlying issues with respect to the computational errors identified, so as to allay any lingering concerns and doubts.”

The local election observer group also urged the “EC to ensure that source documents signed by the political parties, which support the instrument of declaration, are consistent with the tally sheet for the collation of the national results for the presidential candidates.”

Reacting to whether the EC’s computational errors affect the Coalition’s Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) estimates, CODEO emphasised that “the post-declaration errors detected and corrected by the Electoral Commission do not, in any way, affect the Coalition’s PVT estimates as shared on Thursday, December 10, 2020”.

“The PVT is based on polling station data submitted by CODEO stationary Polling Station Observers who witnessed the counting and declaration of those results, having observed the processes of voting during the course of the day.”

It continued that it has “absolute confidence in its PVT estimates, reaffirms the results that it has already published, and assures the public that the results declared by the EC closely match the Coalition’s PVT estimates”.

It added that: “The final results released by the EC after correcting the detected errors in the original declaration still fall within the confidence range of CODEO’s PVT estimates, and, thus, further provides CODEO the confidence to reaffirm its position on the PVT.”