Voter Management System has audit trail and integrity - EC to NDC

The Electoral Commission (EC) has assured the National Democratic Congress (NDC), other stakeholders, and the general public that the Voter Management System (VMS) that is used to manage the voters register has audit trail features which ensure that all changes made to a voter’s registration can be tracked through the database whenever an investigation is required.

The EC therefore assured the public that the VMS has integrity and that the final voters register will be credible and robust.

The EC disclosed this in a letter to the NDC in response to the petition presented to the Commission by the NDC at the end of the party’s demonstration on Tuesday, September 17, calling for a forensic audit of the Provisional Voters Register.

“…all data, from registration to transfers and amendments are not deleted from the Voter Management System. All voters registered in the VMS can be accounted for. There is a trail that explains each voter’s movement.

"Even in instances where voter data becomes corrupt, there still exists evidence (paper or electronic) of a registration having taken place. This allows the Commission to identify the voters and invite them for inclusion should it come out that they are not in the Provisional Voters Register,” the commission wrote.

On the NDC's concerns over its IT system, the commission indicated that even though every system has weaknesses, it can assure Ghanaians about the security of its system.

“The EC is confident in the security of its IT systems. The system has an audit trail that tracks all entries and modifications no matter how minute they are. It employs both physical and electronic access control policies which utilize either passwords or biometrics or both. We however recognize that there is no foolproof system. A case in point is the transfers done by our officer in Pusiga who exploited the absence of a liveliness check in voter identification and used ID photos to undertake unauthorized transfers of voters.

"It is important to note that, the Commission detected this anomaly, identified the vulnerability, and immediately put a fix in place. More importantly, the presence of an audit trail allowed for the reversal of the 38 unauthorized transfers. While the system may not be 100% foolproof, it is equipped with measures to cure errors detected.”

On the illegal voter transfers in Pusiga, the EC said that all the said transfers had been reversed.

“We acknowledge that our officer in Pusiga carried out thirty-eight (38) unauthorized transfers. As noted, the said transfers have been reversed and the officer’s appointment has been terminated.

"The Police are responsible for any criminal investigations and prosecution. For your information, our system keeps records of transfers including the date and time of each transfer, officers responsible for the transfer and the facial image or fingerprint of the applicant used for the transfer. These are all verifiable and stored in the Voter Management System (VMS).”

On the NDC’s call for a forensic audit, the EC said that the party's call is currently not justified.

It indicated that there are still more processes available to clean up the voters register.

“…the Commission is of the view that the legal and administrative processes laid down to clean the PVR have not been fully exhausted to justify the calls for a forensic audit. We entreat the public to trust us to carry out our mandate.”



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