The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has expressed serious concerns about the vulnerabilities in the Electoral Commission’s IT system following a Special Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. The meeting was convened to address the issues surrounding the 2024 Provisional Voters Register.
In a press statement issued by the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the NDC, the party highlighted several alarming admissions by the Electoral Commission (EC). Among these were the illegal transfer of voters due to the absence of a liveliness test technology, errors in the 2024 transfer list, and the presence of corrupted files in the Provisional Voters Register. Additionally, the party pointed to the deletion of voter records, which the EC has attempted to rectify through the creation of a “Missing Voters Register.”
Of significant concern to the NDC is the revelation of a vulnerable IT system within the Electoral Commission, which they argue is susceptible to data manipulation and infiltration. The party warns that these security lapses could be exploited by both internal and external actors with access to login credentials, thereby compromising the integrity of the upcoming December 7 elections.
The NDC has, however, welcomed the EC’s decision to release an updated version of the 2024 Provisional Voters Register within a week for further scrutiny by political parties. Additionally, the party endorsed the re-exhibition of the corrected register but recommended that the exercise be conducted both online and offline at designated exhibition centers.
In light of the IT vulnerabilities, the NDC has demanded a multi-stakeholder and interparty review of the Electoral Commission’s IT system to address the flaws that led to the numerous anomalies in the voter registration process. According to the NDC, failure to resolve these issues could jeopardize the fairness of the upcoming elections.
The statement underlined the party’s commitment to ensuring the transparency and integrity of the electoral process.
