The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has advised party agents accredited to polling stations to desist from the practice of not signing the Declaration of Results form (pink sheet).    

The Commission said the refusal of polling agents to sign the pink sheet did not, in any way, invalidate the results of the elections.    

Anthony Nyame Central Regional Deputy Director of the EC said this during a day’s Capacity Building workshop for Media Practitioners on “Election Reportage and Highlights of the Constitutional Instrument 91 (C.I. 91)” in Cape Coast.  

The workshop which was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) formed part of preparation by the EC towards the successful conduct of the 2016 general elections.    

The training was to equip media practitioners with the requisite knowledge to have a better understanding of the electoral system also to remind them of their roles and responsibilities towards a successful election.    

The media practitioners were taken through accreditation procedures, voting processes, election monitoring and evaluation and the nomination of candidates for presidential and parliamentary elections.    

Mr Nyame said some polling agents deliberately refused to sign the pink sheet when the result was not in favour of their candidates and urged them to cooperate with the EC to clear suspicions and doubts of the election results.    

He said polling agents were only to observe the electoral system and that they did not have the power to instruct electoral officials but could only draw their attention to any abnormalities.    

He said, “in situations where they do not want to sign the pink sheet, they must state clearly their reasons for not signing”.  

He said polling agents have the privilege to call for a re-count at the polling station and at the coalition centre whenever they were unsatisfied with the results.  

Mr Nyame reminded the journalist that polling stations remained restricted areas as they were security zones and media houses were expected to have accreditation to access such areas.    

He urged them to apply for accreditation ahead of time to avoid any embarrassment during the exercise.    

Pauline Adobea Dadzawa, a member of the Commission, said the errors committed by the disqualified presidential aspirants could have been avoided if they had been vigilant.    

Christian Owusu-Parry, Director of Administration at the EC, cautioned media practitioners against forecasting the winners during the general election.