We don’t need EC’s permission to fly drones to monitor electoral operations – NDC chairman

The Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Emmanuel Nii Ashie Moore, has told the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) that it cannot stop his party from using drones to monitor operations for the 2024 elections.

According to him, the use of drones to monitor electoral processes during the 2024 polls, which he is championing, has become a norm in several democracies, and it is helping to safeguard the integrity of elections.

Speaking in an interview on UTV on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, Nii Ashie Moore said that the NDC would follow all required legal processes to allow the party to use drones for operations in the upcoming December 7, 2024 elections.

He clarified that the drones would not be used at polling stations, as feared by the Electoral Commission, because it might lead to a violation of the right to a secret ballot.

“This is one of the strategies that I want to use in my region to monitor the operation. To monitor things that I’ve seen during the limited registration. So that if someone is planning something untoward, he will know that Big Brother will be watching him.

“I don’t need permission from the EC to fly a drone when I’m going to bury my dead mother… In the statement I made, I did not say that I would fly a drone on top of a polling station. I said this election we would use drones to monitor my polling agents, to monitor my prompters, to ensure that whatever assignment I have given is being done,” he said.

The regional chairman said that the EC should embrace the suggestion of using drones during the election because it is being done in many democracies.

TWI NEWS

Background:

The NDC Greater Accra Regional Chairman stated that the NDC would use drones during the 2024 elections as part of the party's endeavour to secure two million votes in his region.

Moore emphasised that the aim is to bolster the NDC's monitoring capabilities to prevent any potential electoral malpractice.

He further revealed that preparations are underway to train constituency executives on operating the drones to monitor ground activities effectively.

The EC came out to criticise the regional chairman’s plan.

Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, the Director of Electoral Services at the EC, noted that the commission has not received official notification from the NDC regarding the deployment of drones.

Dr. Quaicoe stated that allowing such actions would violate security protocols and compromise the privacy of voters.

“Polling stations are security zones, so they will have to apply to the security people for permission to be granted. They will have to apply to the Electoral Commission for permission to be granted. But my point is, how comfortable will you feel when you are going to vote at the polling station and there's a drone hovering around you?

"How sure are you with respect to the secrecy of the ballot? So they have to apply,” he said in an interview with Joy News on March 12, 2024. The fact remains that polling stations are security zones. We want to ensure the secrecy of the ballot. So, at the polling station where I am going to make my choice, I want to vote in that secrecy,” he added.

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