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We are not happy with EC - Freddie Blay

Freddie Blay NPP 1st Chair Freddie Blay, Acting National Chairman, NPP

Thu, 4 Aug 2016 Source: ultimatefmonline.com

The Acting National Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Freddie Blay has stated that the party is not happy with moves by the Electoral Commission (EC) to opt for Electronic Results Transmission System (ERTS) for December 7 polls.

He said the conduct of the EC in addressing their concerns has not been encouraging, saying the system lacks transparency.

‘We are not very happy about the conduct of EC, in most cases we don’t have answers and steps taken by EC to our satisfaction,’ he said.

The Electoral Commission (EC) has said all political parties were consulted before announcing the ERTS.

But speaking on Ultimate breakfast show hosted by Lantam Papanko, Mr.Blay insists stakeholders especially the NPP has little knowledge about the machine.

Mr. Blay said all efforts to get the attention of the EC to educate them on how results are going to be transmitted electronically has proven futile.

He debunked claims that the party does not trust EC, saying they cannot guarantee that the election will be free and fair if they are not educated on the process.

The Acting National Chairman of NPP said proposals written by the party to EC has not been given the needed response.

‘The election stakeholders must know the process, from polling stations to the regions, if the votes are going to be electronically transmitted we have to know, other than that we can’t be guaranteed that the elections will be free and fair. You are introducing a new machine, what we are saying is that if its going to be electronically transmitted, you told the whole world, even asked people to tender for it, and even we the stakeholders don’t even know, how this tender is going to be, we want to know which day or stage the transmission is going to be so that we can follow it, if there is any mishap or mistake either deliberate or otherwise, we will be in a position to draw the attention of the EC,’ he explained.

He said people who operate the machine, could make mistakes which will not augur well for the nation.

Source: ultimatefmonline.com
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