EC boss hits back at NPP

The Electoral Commission of Ghana has dismissed reports that some political parties have access to the biometric data of registered voters.

The Commission says it is only enjoined by law to furnish the political parties periodically with a register, which only contains names and particulars of voters.

“Those registers do not come with the bio data of the voters in the voters' register,” stated Christian Owusu Parry, the Head of Public Relations of the Commission.

He was speaking on TV3 on Wednesday, September 23 after the New Patriotic Party (NPP) raised concerns about the recently held biometric registration of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

According to the leading opposition party, the NDC might have had access to the biometric data of its members from the EC as it only took particulars from its members but later issued them with ID cards said to be biometric, ahead of its November 7 primaries.

The NDC has since rubbished NPP’s suggestions.

Mr Owusu Parry said it is only the EC that has access to the data.

“No organisation be it a political party or civil society has access to the Commission’s database,” he said. “It is only the Electoral Commission that has access to that database.”

He further explained that: “Anything that emanates from the Electoral Commission to the political parties as far as the voters’ register is concerned is only the names and particulars of the people in the register”.