A democracy and development fellow at CDD-Ghana, John Osae-Kwapong says a credible voter register is crucial in facilitating fair elections.

According to him, a credible voter’s register not only enhances the electoral process but also improves the overall outcomes.

He stated that the EC should first address identified issues through its internal mechanisms, allowing political parties to review and assess the solutions before considering a forensic audit as a last resort.

Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on September 30, he said, “A credible voter’s register goes to the heart of ensuring that you can have an election whose credibility and integrity is accepted."

"I am of the opinion that if you call for a forensic audit, then it means that whatever anomalies have been detected are so outrageous that the EC’s internal administrative processes will not be sufficient enough to address those anomalies and correct them.”

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“The issues have been identified. Can you allow the EC to use its internal administrative processes to fix them, go back to the political parties, let them see the fixes that have been made and see the extent to which they are satisfied and then you treat the call for a forensic audit as a last resort but also keeping in mind that you are also working with time constraints.”

He pointed out the pressing need for transparency, especially given a recent Afrobarometer report revealing that the EC holds only a 10% trust level among the public.

“That is the situation the EC finds itself in but for me, my position is that, if you can appeal to the better angels of the EC as an institution and allow them to use their internal administrative processes to fix this and then if the fixes are not satisfactory, then you want to pull the card of a forensic audit. That is my position on how we can resolve some of these discrepancies,” he said.