Preliminary Report (II) on the On-Going Biometric Voter Registration Exercise By The EC

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) continues to observe the on-going Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) Exercise being conducted by the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) across the country.

CODEO has one observer each in 100 randomly and purposively selected constituencies spread across all regions in the country. For each phase of the registration exercise, CODEO observers have been following and observing 100 selected registration centers.

CODEO has earlier shared its first preliminary report on the BVR exercise at the end of Phase One of the exercise.

This second report contains preliminary findings on Phases Two and Three of the registration exercise which were conducted from July 6 through to July 17, 2020.

During these two Phases, CODEO observed a total of eight days – July 6th, 7th, 10th and 11th for Phase Two and July 12th, 13th, 16th and 17th for Phase Three (i.e. the first and last two days of Phases Two and Three).

CODEO observers observed a total of 200 registration centers (i.e. 100 centers per Phase) where they were stationed and observed the exercise. At the end of these two Phases, a total of 775 of an expected 800 daily observation reports were successfully submitted by the observers.

Below are the key highlights from analysis of the information submitted by observers:

Findings

Analyses of observer reports indicate that the registration exercise was generally conducted in accordance with relevant electoral rules and regulations. There were however, some recorded challenges relating to various aspects of the process, including the performance of BVR kits; the availability of hand washing facilities; observance of COVID-19 health and safety protocols; and the conduct of stakeholders including political party agents, registration officials and registration applicants; among others.

CODEO highlights the key findings below with the objective of activating the responsiveness of the EC, the Election Security Taskforce and indeed, all stakeholders, to these challenges and to further improve the conduct and security of the registration processes.

Registration Processes

• While majority of registration centers started daily registration on time, CODEO noted that there was a decline in the percentage of registration centers that were opened by 7:15AM as compared to Phase One, from 66% to 58%. In particular, on Day 1 of Phase three (July 12, 2020), a number of registration centers opened late (in some cases after 12PM) either due to the late arrival of BVR kits and/or challenges associated with activation of BVR kits.

Examples of some of the affected centers included Ntonso Grace House, Ahwiaa Zongo in Kwabere East in the Ashanti region, D/A Prim School, Yabraso in Tain in the Bono region, and L/A Prim School and Adaklu-Torda in Adaklu in the Volta region. The EC in a press statement acknowledged the delays in the start of the registration exercise on July 12, 2020 and promised to make up for the time lost at the affected registration centers.

• There were stationed uniform personnel at 71% of observed centers, a slight decline Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) compared to 79% in the centers observed in Phase One.

• About 12% of registration centers observed in the two phases were found not to be accessible to persons with mobility challenges and the elderly.

• Registration forms were available in most cases (99%).

• In 11% of cases, registration centers encountered challenges with the performance of the registration kits, resulting in the suspension of the exercise at many of the affected centers. The most reported cases of malfunction related to laptops and fingerprint scanners while printers and cameras reported a few challenges. In most instances, the issue of equipment malfunction was resolved/fixed for the process to continue.

• At several registration centers, political party agents continued to collect voter ID card details and contact information from newly-registered persons. In a few cases, this generated heated verbal exchanges between registered persons and some party agents, similar to what was reported in Phase One of the exercise.

• In 21% of cases, some persons stationed themselves around registration centers and looked out to guarantee for people. Observers reported a few instances where some registered persons attempted to guarantee for persons suspected to be ineligible for registration. For example, at a registration center (Central Mosque, Medie) in Amasaman in the Greater Accra region, two registered voters filled a guarantee form for one person who attempted to register but upon interrogation by the Registration Officer, allegedly admitted to being a non-Ghanaian from Burkina Faso and subsequently absconded.

• Observers reported on the unauthorized presence of some individuals at approximately 15% of cases.

• At a few centers (3%), some party agents tried to prevent some applicants from registering without filling a Challenge Form.

• Observers indicated that at some registration centers, officials ended daily registration much earlier than the stipulated closing time of 6:00PM. Observers reported of instances where registration officials refused or were reluctant to register applicants even before 5:00PM.

For instance, at the SDA Primary School-Osiem in Abuakwa North in the Eastern region, registration officials did not want to register the about 20 persons who had showed up to register in the morning of the last day of Phase Three (July 17th, 2020).

The registration officials advised applicants to rather wait for the next phase of the exercise, which according to them, was going to take place in the same vicinity. The situation caused some commotion between the officials at the center and some registration applicants.

• A few of the observed centers recorded some incidents of confusion, chaos and/or violence, relating to queuing at registration centers and other factors. For instance, on July 13, 2020 at a registration center (Temp Booth, Jana Mosque) in Nanton in the Northern Region, a fight broke out between some natives and some other persons who were alleged to have come from outside the community to register. This halted the registration process for close to half an hour before registration resumed at about 1:50PM when calm was restored.

COVID-19 Health and Safety Protocols

• While COVID-19 related health and safety protocols were observed in majority of cases, there continued to be some challenges in other instances. The two-meter social distance between applicants in a queue as instructed by the EC was observed in most (74%) but not in some cases (26%). This is a slight improvement in the situation compared to Phase One, as reported in our first report (where social distancing could not be enforced in 28% of cases).

• The wiping of fingerprint scanners after use by each applicant was also not fully adhered to at many registration centers. Observers reported that the scanning devices were wiped all the time only in 38% of the cases. It was mostly done ‘often’ (34%) or ‘sometimes’ (24%). In few instances (4%) the devices were ‘never’ wiped. There were also reported shortages of sanitizing/handwashing facilities in a few instances (5%).

• Observers noted that temperature checks were not strictly conducted in about 25% of cases. CODEO observers also reported on the breakdown of temperature guns at some registration centers. Some of the centers affected included the Beat 9 Border Post, Aflao in Ketu South in the Volta region, CSD Office-Boso Odumase in Abuakwa North in the Eastern region, M/A Primary School-Mfuom in Upper Denkyira East in the Central Region, and Market Square-Ellonyi No.1 in Jomoro in the Western region. In a few cases, registration was put on-hold due to this challenge while in other cases, the exercise proceeded without temperature checks.

Conclusion

• CODEO strongly condemns all reported incidents of violence at registration centers including the latest development in the Awutu Senya East Constituency on Monday, July 20, 2020 as well as the violent incident at Banda constituency which resulted in the unfortunate loss of the life of one person.

CODEO urges the security agencies to step up efforts to bring all perpetrators of violence to book as soon as possible to serve as a deterrence to others. CODEO urges all political parties, particularly the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to check the conduct of their agents deployed in registration centers and all persons acting on their behalf. CODEO further reminds the security agencies that failure to act on such violent incidents will send a wrong signal to criminals and make mockery of the new law on vigilantism.

• CODEO also condemns the presence of all unauthorized presence of persons at registration centers. CODEO reminds the general public that according to the registration rules, no person is supposed to be present at a registration center unless that person is a registration official, an accredited part agent.

• CODEO also entreats registered voters to guarantee for only persons who they are sure to be eligible for registration under the laws of Ghana.

• While CODEO commends registration officials for generally conducting themselves well, the Coalition also urges all registration officials to be diligent in their work, including ensuring that all registration rules and regulations are applied.

• CODEO commends the EC for responding to some of the issues raised in the Coalition’s earlier report, including cautioning political parties and their agents against collecting information about voters and warning people against indulging in ‘contract’ guaranteeing.’

Given that some people continue to indulge in these practices, CODEO further entreats the EC and Election Security Task Force to ensure that people are held to account upon violation of election rules. CODEO commends some registration officers for ensuring that political party agents at their registration centers comply with the EC’s directives.

• CODEO urges all eligible persons who are yet to register to familiarise themselves with the movement plan of the EC for their area to inform their participation in the exercise. The crowding at some registration centers, particularly in the initial days of each phase is avoidable if people can re-schedule their registration plans as the exercise takes place over a period of six days at each center.

CODEO is continuing with observation of the remaining phases of the exercise and will keep informing the public about its findings.

CODEO acknowledges the support of the STAR-Ghana Foundation for the observation of the BVR exercise.