The Electoral Commission (EC) has come under public criticism for publishing on its website the final voters register for the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections. To the critics, the EC, by publishing the names, polling station number, voter ID number, and age of the voter, has compromised on the privacy of individuals who have their names on the register.
The EC is also arguing that it has not breached any law, and quoted the Constitutional Instrument (CI) 27, which requires that the provisional voters register is published on its website.
According to the EC, the same law also mandates that the final register is published in a manner that the Commission deems fit.
Based on the CI 27, it is obvious that the EC has not breached the law, contrary to what its critics are saying.
In the view of The Chronicle, however, the EC, in its attempt to ensure transparency, should also look at the other side of the coin. The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), in particular, has always accused the electoral body of manipulating the voters register to favour the ruling government.
To help cure this mischief, the EC has decided to put the whole register into the public domain so that voters will not be relying entirely on what the NDC says.
Unfortunately, we are living in a world where criminals are always devising means to dupe people. It is an undisputable fact that the banks and other financial institutions in the country rely heavily on the EC voters ID for their daily transactions. When one is seeking a loan or cashing an open cheque, the person has to, in most of cases, produce his or her voters ID card, which is considered authentic.
With the voters register that contains the names, ID card numbers, age of voters already in the public domain, it will be easy for criminals to pick these vital data and use them to dupe people without the knowledge of the person whose Voter ID card details has been used. The Chronicle is, however, happy that the EC, after the concerns had been raised, decided to pull down the register from the website.
But, according to the head of the EC, Mrs Jean Mensa, the pulling down of the register does not mean her outfit is no more going to publish it again.
According to her, they are going to put security features on it, so that the public can only view and not download the information.
Again, this is a good strategy to address the issues that have been raised. However, the security features alone will not be enough to stop unscrupulous people from copying vital information about people on the register.
Yes, they may not be able to download it, but they can use their pens to write all the vital information they want. The Chronicle is, therefore, proposing that if the EC insists on publishing the register on its website for transparency sake, then the ages and ID card numbers of the voters must be omitted.
The name of the voter and the polling station number, which are meant for voting purposes, must, however, be maintained.
Scammers cannot use one’s name or polling station number to conduct any fraudulent bank or business transaction. They have to add the age and voter ID card number which are not available to them.
It is our contention that if this is done, the EC would have satisfied those criticising it over the publication of the entire register, whilst, at the same time, ensuring the credibility of the register.
The post Editorial: Should EC be blamed for publishing voters register on its website? appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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