What are the Arguments against Forensic Audit of the Voters Register?

The fundamental question presently, about Ghana’s preparation for the December 7th general elections is whether or not the Voters Register must be
subjected to a Forensic Audit to determine its suitability for the purpose of the general election.

We of LINSOD have noted that in the brouhaha, there are only two entities in the country, namely, the Electoral Commission (EC) and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), which are strongly against the call for a
forensic audit of the Voters Register.

Unfortunately, what we do not know is
their best argument supporting their incessant resistance to the call for the
much needed forensic audit, which shall instill absolute confidence in the
Voters Roll and the rest of the electoral process.
Besides the EC’s usual rhetoric that the exhibition of the voters register, which
was done recently was the beginning of a process by the Commission to clean
the register internally of any anomalies that may be detected, and the famous claim by them that the Commission has the capacity to correct any errors noticed in the register without assistance, there is no other argument in support of the intransigent position taken by the Commission in refusing to heed the call
for a forensic audit of the register.

With this posturing of the Commission, is it not
legitimate for the general public to presume that the Commission is in cahoots
with the ruling NPP to manipulate the elections in their favour?

If the Commission has nothing to hide, why would it be fighting so hard to prevent a
forensic audit of the voters register to avert any potential civil disturbances?

These are legitimate questions lingering on the minds of Ghanaians, and
begging for urgent answers from Mrs. Jean Mensa and his staff.

In all of this, we must remember the caution of Mr. Franklin Cudjoe of IMANI
Africa to Ghanaians that anyone who trusts the word of the EC that the Commission is capable to unilaterally correct the gargantuan errors in the
voters register does so at his or her own “foolish risk.” Mr. Cudjoe cited as his basis for this profound assertion on the backdrop of the numerous efforts he made together with others to ensure that his people of SALL would vote in both the presidential and parliamentary elections in the 2020 general elections, and the assurances given to them by the EC that the people of SALL shall indeed,do so, until in the eve of the elections when the Chairperson of the Commission, Mrs. Jean Mensa announced rather wickedly and regrettably that
the people of SALL shall not elect a Member of Parliament in the 2020 general election to represent them. Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare describes the exclusion of the people of SALL from electing a Member of Parliament as a “cardinal sin” in Ghana’s democracy, and we wholly agree with his assertion.
In light of the cardinal sin cited above, and the many circumstances, which create bases for suspicion of the EC, Ghanaians are not expected to merely
believe everything the Commission tells us. Let us not forget that in this election
cycle,

They continue to make unimaginable errors until the NDC exposes them,
and then they would turn around to explain that those errors are not serious
ones. Interestingly,

They again describe the grave anomalies discovered by the
NDC in the provisional register as trivial errors, which may be easily rectified through their internal mechanisms, which are doubtful in light of the nature of
the anomalies.

We do recall the purported missing biometric equipment from the EC’s fortified
security offices. We also cannot forget how late in the day, and how close to the date of exhibition of the provisional register was the register provided to the
NDC. It was barely hours before the exhibition process started, and only after persistent agitation by the party for the register to be furnished them for scrutiny. Let us also remember the many NPP activists, who now occupy the
Commission, and are making decisions on the management of our elections.

With all of these, Ghanaians cannot simply trust the EC without proper scrutiny
of the voters register, which only the Commission can tamper with. As things
stand now, there is justifiable presumption by well-meaning Ghanaians and
some international bodies that the neutrality and objectivity of the Electoral
Commission is in serious doubt. To regain our confidence in their work,

The Commission must go beyond mere words, and allow measures such as the
forensic audit demanded by the NDC