The Electoral Commission(EC) has backlashed the decision of the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) to use drones to monitor the 2024 general elections.
The Director of Electoral Services at the commission, Dr Serebour Quaicoe in an interview, justified that the usage of drones at polling stations is against the principle of secrecy which is very significant in electoral processes.
‘Polling stations are security zones and 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 and that is why visually impaired people have been given tactile jackets so that you will not see whom they are voting for.
“The only thing we always want to avoid is that when the person is going to the screen, there he is going to choose so the secrecy should not be compromised” he noted.
Dr. Quaicoe emphasized that any political party that intends to implement any new policy about security has to inform the security personnel and the Electoral Commission for permission to be granted.
“Polling stations are security zones so they would have to apply to the security people for permission to be granted. They would 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 and how sure are you with the secrecy of the ballot?” he quizzed.
He added; “They have to apply but it will be very difficult for the Electoral Commission or the police to approve people to be using drones at polling stations”.
EC’s Monitoring System
According to Dr Quaicoe, the EC has guidelines for ensuring that elections are conducted fairly and transparently.
“From the Electoral point of view, we deploy temporal staff as our operatives. Then the senior staff will go and monitor what is going on.
“In the same way, the media go and observe and cover the processes so that it has to be transparent. The political parties are given accreditations to send their agents to the various polling stations and their executives are also given some form of supervisory cards so that they can monitor the activities of their officials.
“So all these things are put in place to ensure that there is transparency. We also accredit domestic and foreign observers who also go to the polling stations to observe” he added.
He stressed that no party is denied access to observe how the electoral process is carried out in all the constituencies.
“All other activities are so transparent that everyone can have a feel of what is going on. If anyone is doing anything contrary to these processes, then you[media] call for our attention to come and intervene,” he noted.