EC’s electronic results portal must be independently audited, allow public verification – AEI

The African Electoral Institute (AEI) has urged the Electoral Commission (EC) to independently test and audit its proposed electronic portal for transmitting election results and providing appropriate public access to the results.

The call follows the EC’s review of Constitutional Instrument 127 (C.I. 127) and its proposal to introduce a dedicated electronic platform for transmitting scanned results from polling stations.

In a statement, AEI said the reform could improve the speed, transparency, and traceability of Ghana’s election results-management process and strengthen public confidence.

“AEI considers this a timely and important reform that can strengthen the speed, transparency, traceability, and public confidence of Ghana’s electoral results-management process,” the Institute said.

According to AEI, the portal must have strong cybersecurity, data protection, authentication, and audit-trail mechanisms to safeguard the integrity of transmitted results.

It also called for political parties, accredited observers, the media, and citizens to have appropriate access to the transmitted results to enable independent verification.

“Appropriate public access to transmitted results be provided, enabling political parties, accredited observers, the media and citizens to independently verify results, subject to necessary safeguards,” it said.

The Institute further urged the EC to establish contingency measures for possible connectivity, power, equipment, and system failures and involve key stakeholders in testing and validating the system.

It also recommended nationwide pilots, simulations, and training ahead of the next elections.

The EC’s proposed electronic transmission system forms part of its review of C.I. 127, the legal framework governing aspects of Ghana’s public elections.

AEI said the electronic system should complement rather than replace the existing manual collation process.