African Electoral Institute welcomes EC’s electronic results system but cautions against scrapping manual collation

The African Electoral Institute (AEI) has welcomed the Electoral Commission’s review of Constitutional Instrument 127 (C.I. 127) and its proposal to introduce a dedicated electronic portal for transmitting scanned election results.

In a statement, AEI said the proposed reform could improve the speed, transparency, traceability, and public confidence in Ghana’s election results-management process but stressed the need to retain the established manual collation system.

“Our position, however, is that technology must complement, not replace, the established manual collation process,” the Institute said.

The proposed electronic portal is intended to provide a digital channel for transmitting scanned results from polling stations, while the existing physical result sheets and manual collation procedures would continue to provide verification and oversight.

AEI said the two systems should operate together to allow electronically transmitted results to be cross-checked against original physical results and help identify discrepancies.

“AEI believes that Ghana should not view this reform as a choice between technology and manual processes. Rather, the opportunity is to combine the strengths of both,” it added.

The Institute urged the EC to clearly define the legal relationship between electronic transmission and manual collation and independently test and audit the proposed portal.

It also called for strong cybersecurity, data protection and contingency measures for possible connectivity, power and equipment failures, while urging the EC to involve political parties, civil society, observers and technology experts in testing the system.

AEI further recommended nationwide pilots, simulations, and training ahead of the next elections to ensure the system is operationally ready.