EC must properly address computational errors in results – CODEO

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has urged the Electoral Commission (EC) to hold a public event to properly address computational errors in the presidential results it declared.

It described as unfortunate the EC’s press release where it said: “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.”

The CODEO, therefore, asked the Commission to “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.”

A statement signed by Mr Albert Arhin, the National Coordinator of the CODEO Secretariat, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the release of CODEO’s 2020 PVT estimates had 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 previous official declaration.

It said the computational errors created room for doubt about the integrity of the presidential election results as declared on December 9 and other disputed parliamentary results.

The Coalition said it was of the view that given what was at stake, apart from public engagement on the errors, the EC must ensure that source documents signed by the political parties, which supported the instrument of declaration, were consistent with the tally sheet for the collation of the national results for the presidential candidates.

It said the post-declaration errors detected and corrected by the Electoral Commission did not, in any way, affect the Coalition’s PVT estimates as shared on Thursday, December 10, 2020.

The PVT was 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 said.

“CODEO 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,” the statement said.

It said the final results released by the EC after correcting the detected errors, still fell within the confidence range of CODEO’s PVT estimates, which further provided the Coalition the confidence to reaffirm its position on the PVT estimates.

It said CODEO was thankful for the support and confidence the public had in it, since its establishment in 2000.

It gave the assurance that the PVT methodology was a credible and tested confidence-building tool for independently assessing the accuracy and integrity of official results declared by an election management body like the EC.