The Electoral Commission (EC) has rejected claims made by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that its Biometric Verification Devices (BVD) are missing.
The Minority in Parliament raised concerns about the stolen BVD machines on Tuesday, March 19, with Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson calling upon the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Police Service to promptly investigate the matter.
According to the Minority, the missing biometric devices were meant for the registration and verification of voters by the Electoral Commission ahead of its limited voter registration exercise.
Responding to these claims, the Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Operations, Samuel Tettey clarified that all biometric devices are securely stored, affirming the Commission’s readiness for the December polls.
He, however, emphasized that five laptops had been stolen from their custody.
“For clarification, the voter registration kits which comprise a laptop, camera, scanner, and printer are entirely separate from the commission’s registration data systems and are incapable of manipulating election outcomes as suggested. These kits though crucial for registration require specific activation to function accordingly. Without such activation, they serve no purpose beyond their component as a laptop, camera, scanner, or printer. What this means is that they are of no value beyond what they were manufactured to be.
“Similarly, the stolen laptops cannot be utilized for voter verification or registration. It remains just a laptop. As such they cannot be used to compromise our systems in undermining the credibility of the incoming elections in December 2024. The integrity of our systems and elections remains intact.
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Mr Tettey also addressed the contradictions people have about BVDs and BVRs.
“Again there seems to be some confusion as to the use of our equipment. It is imperative to understand that the commission uses two distinct equipment for its operations. The biometric voter registration kits which is used for voter registration and the biometric verification devices to verify voters using their fingerprints or facial features on election day. These devices in isolation cannot fulfill the functions of registration or verification without proper activation.
“It is important to note after every registration exercise, all data captured are erased from the laptops in a process termed ‘end of life’. As such, we assure the public that the stolen laptops contain no sensitive or valuable data. Consequently, the theft bears no impact on the integrity of upcoming elections nor does it serve any political agenda as insinuated.”