The Electoral Commission (EC) has urged the public to ignore a viral video showing a man stuffing a ballot box.
Social media reports claim the incident occurred during the by-election at Ejisu on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
However, the Deputy Chairman of Operations at the EC, Samuel Tettey, in a statement explained that the said video has nothing to do with the EC’s operations or the Ejisu by-election.
The EC pointed out that the official in the video is seen wearing a green vest, while the commission uses blue vests for its operations.
It added that another person in the video is wearing an orange vest, which is different from what EC staff wear.
The location shown in the video has a polling station in an enclosed facility, but the Commission usually holds polling stations in public areas, according to the EC.
The EC urged the public to cross-check information with the Commission before putting them out in this era of misinformation and disinformation.
The following details were emphasized by the EC to refute the veracity of the video:
1. The vest the Ghana Electoral Commission uses for its operations is blue. The official in the video is wearing a green vest. The second person seen in the video is wearing an orange vest. As stated, the Electoral Commission of Ghana uses a blue vest for its Operation Staff.
2. The Electoral Commission of Ghana’s Polling Stations are cited in open spaces but the Polling Station in the video is in an enclosed area.
3. Each Polling Station at Ejisu had at least Six Police Officers in addition to the Agents of the Candidates. This is not the case in the video being circulated.
4. All the ballot boxes of the Electoral Commission of Ghana are labelled according to the name and code of each Polling Station. The labels are boldly pasted on the ballot box. The ballot box in the video is not labelled.
5. Each Polling Station in Ejisu had only one ballot box. Two ballot boxes are displayed in the video.
6. The inscription on the vest worn by the man in the video is not in the English language. That of the Electoral Commission of Ghana is in the English language.
“We urge the public to disregard the video. It is aimed at tarnishing the image and credibility of Ghana’s Electoral Commission. The events in the video did not occur in Ghana. It has nothing to do with the Electoral Commission of Ghana.
“In this era of misinformation and disinformation, we entreat the public to cross-check information with the Commission to ascertain the truth.
“… As a Commission, we remain committed to delivering credible, fair, peaceful and transparent elections in 2024,” the statement added.
Click the link for the full statement
Source: Kasapafmonline.com