A move by the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to deploy surreptitious methods to monitor the 2024 general election has been challenged by Ghana’s election management body.
This is because the Electoral Commission (EC) has expressed serious misgivings about a leaked strategy by the NDC in the Greater Accra region to deploy drones to monitor the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.
According to the EC, such a move will constitute an invasion of voters’ electoral privacy and a breach of security protocols, and therefore, will not be countenanced.
The EC’s response followed claims by the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the NDC, Emmanuel Nii Ashie Moore that the deployment of drones is part of efforts to secure two million votes for the party in this year’s elections.
He added that the objective of the drone ‘service’ is to strengthen the NDC’s monitoring systems to prevent potential rigging.
According to Mr. Ashie Moore, preparations were well underway to commence the training of constituency executives on how to use the drones to monitor ground activities.
However, speaking to Joy News in Accra yesterday, EC’s Director of Electoral Services, Dr. Serebour Quaicoe stated that the election management body has not received official notification from the NDC regarding the deployment of drones.
Nonetheless, he pointed out that allowing such a move will 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 that how comfortable will you feel that 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,” Dr Quaicoe quizzed.
He maintained that it will be challenging for the EC or the Police to approve the use of drones at polling stations, emphasising that polling stations are considered security zones.
“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 stated.
