"Persons who commit serious election offences, particularly if they are professional election officials or electronic experts, must be severely punished for attempting to undermine the will of the people. Possibly a treasonable act" a former Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan has said.

"And I am singling out professional election administrators and electronic experts because they know what they are doing."

"A voter may commit some infraction. An election official by their training they know what is the right thing to do. The electronic expert who is tampering with the figures knows exactly what he is doing and these people, I am suggesting, they should be seriously punished," Dr Afari Gyan added.

According to Dr Afari Gyan punishing offenders severely will help serve as a deterrent to others who plan to engage in election malpractices.

Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan, who was speaking at the Ghana Bar Association's (GBA) annual conference in Kumasi on Tuesday, stressed that in a democratic election, the voter is pre-eminent and a valid vote is invaluable for purposes of determining the choices of the people. 

For this reason, the seasoned election administrator said any act intended to manipulate or undermine the will of the people, particularly by those employed to oversee the exercise, should be considered as an act of "treason". 

“I am singling out here professional election administrators and electronic experts because they know exactly what they are doing. A voter may commit some infraction,” he said. 

He also advised political parties and various contenders in general elections to obtain the requisite data before going to court to challenge the election results. 

Election results summary sheet and its "pink sheet" nickname

Citing its origin story, Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan urged all who intended to challenge the results of any national elections to ensure they possessed well-executed and authentic “pink sheets.” 

Pink sheets are the EC's official documents used to collate results of elections at polling stations, constituency and regional levels and are the source documents which the commission relies on to declare Members of Parliament (MPs) and the President as elected.

“Pink sheets are the most important source documents for reconstructing election results. Please take it from me that the pink sheets are the most important source documents for the reconstruction of election results,” the former EC Chair said. 

“That is what we mean when we say elections are won or lost at the polling station. That is what it means. Those pink sheets; duly executed, authentic and duly executed. So my friendly advice to you is that if you don’t [have] authentic, duly executed pink sheets, as we say in Ghana, think twice before you go to court,” he added.