The deputy chairman of the Electoral Commission, Mr David Kanga, says problems with the country’s electoral system may have been thorny but says such hitches “would always be there.” He said although there have been minor issues with the system, recorded especially during the recent special voting exercise, the onus rests on the parties to ensure they field the right agents. “The agents are supposed to be there to watch, to take care of the interests of the party,” he said. Mr Kanga was answering questions on the preparation of the EC towards Sunday’s election, on Joy FM’s news analysis programme, Front Page. He said the EC would have no powers to control activities at the various polling stations as security is not part of its constitutional mandate. Mr Kanga said with the elections imminent, political parties must also provide “agent monitors” – “senior citizens who would be moving from polling station to polling station, who are known by the various agents.” “No election can be successful unless a watch-dog mechanism is fully operational,” he maintained. Touching on the transposition of numbers at the EC during collation, Mr Kanga said the problem is almost non-existent as recent collation papers are lined with special carbon papers. The EC official stated that the commission is set for the ballot, although it has a huge backlog of transfer votes yet to be verified and approved. In an earlier comment, Koku Anyidoho, head of communications for the Atta Mills campaign team, said with reports of pockets of violence around the country during the special voting exercise, the EC may have to increase its voter education to ensure a violent-free election. He said the country is not ready for any incident that could result in bloodbath in an election being conducted under the watchful eyes of the international community. Play attached audio for voice of Mr David Kanga Story by Fiifi Koomson