Director of Electoral Services at the Office of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Benjamin Bannor- Bio has reiterated the commission’s dedication to promote fairness and transparency in the December 7th elections, as the printing of ballot papers are not done in secrecy as speculated on the internet.
‘’Apart from the electoral commission seal, the political parties add their seal and take records of same. So, in printing ballot papers, there is no secrecy, it’s so transparent.”
Speaking at the media tour to some selected printing houses where some of the ballot papers are being printed, Dr. Bannor- Bio indicated that, the printing of ballot papers is not in secrecy as it’s opened for all to see, as agents of the various candidates are to monitor.
“We are here to let you know that printing ballots is not done in secrecy. We open up to the public for you to know that we are doing it together with the political party agents. At every level, these agents are there and they are observing to ensure that the right thing is done’’.
Dr. Bio described the printing process as open and collaborative, as representatives of the various political parties are present at every stage to verify details, such as serial numbers and constituency-specific quantities.
“They take notice of the serial numbers, they take notice of the quantities being printed for each constituency and we give them all these details”.
The selected printing houses where journalists toured include; Inolink Printing Limited, Buck Press, and Acts Commercial, where he announced that, Buck Press would be printing the presidential and parliamentary ballot for four regions, which are; Ashanti, Oti, Savanna and Central.
He indicated that, “When we say transparency and accountability are in motion, we don’t just say it but we mean it”.
According to him, the Electoral Commission is one of the few election management institutions in the sub-region that prints ballot papers in its home country.
