The Electoral Commission (EC) has defended its decision to relocate the collation and re-collation of results from some constituencies in the Eastern Region to the Tesano Police Training School in Accra.

According to the Deputy Chair of Corporate Services at the EC, Dr Bossman Asare, the move was necessary to correct irregularities that violated the procedures outlined in Constitutional Instrument (C.I) 127.

Speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile on Saturday, December 14, Dr Asare stated that Regulation 43 of C.I. 127 provides clear guidelines for the collation process during parliamentary elections. However, in some constituencies, these procedures were not followed, necessitating intervention by the Commission.

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“When you look at C. I 127, regulation, 43, it specifies the procedure to follow. The 43 starts by saying that each candidate is supposed to have two agents for the collation when it comes to the parliamentary elections. From there, it lists the procedures to be followed. And what the Commission has said very clearly is that, in terms of our collation, all these processes were not followed.

"So literally, the collation we expect to take place in some of these places, they didn't take place, and once what they did was inconsistent with C. I 127, regulation, 43 then the Commission had the responsibility to ensure that all the things that were done which were not proper were corrected," he explained.

His remark comes amidst growing concerns from political parties about the relocation of collation centres, re-declaration of results and the overall credibility of the electoral process.

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In the Eastern region, the EC relocated the collation of results for four constituencies following disputes over the collation process which became chaotic in some areas.

The move by the Commission aimed to prevent further disruptions at the collation centres.

In light of this, Dr Asare cited specific cases of irregularities in Okaikwei Central, where a declaration was made using results from only 110 or 111 polling stations out of 141. This left about 30 polling station results out of the final tally.

He also referenced another instance in Tema, where a declaration was reportedly made at the regional police command by someone not accredited by the Commission. Dr Asare also noted that there were reports from other areas where declarations were made under duress, including threats at knifepoint.

• Read also: EC suspends re-collation of election results at Tesano Police Training School

These incidents, he stated "were inconsistent with the law. The Commission strongly believed that once those things were not followed, then it wasn't the collation we had expected our officers to do.”

The choice of the Tesano Police Training School as the venue for the re-collation, Dr Asare said, was done in consultation with the Ghana Police Service to ensure a secure environment for the process.

He stressed that the EC’s focus remains on ensuring the credibility of the electoral process, not on influencing the outcome.

“We don't care about the outcome of the election. We don't care who is winning here, or who is winning there. What we care about is to protect the integrity of the process, and that process has been clearly specified in law,” he stated.

He assured the public that the EC is committed to transparency and will continue to adhere to the law in its operations.

He added that maintaining the integrity of elections is the only way to sustain public trust in the Commission’s work.