EC Blames �Zero-Aged Minors� On �Software Bug�

The Electoral Commission (EC) has attributed the presence of minors on the country’s voters’ register whose ages were listed as zero (0) to a “software bug in the voter registration programme.”

The New Patriotic Party (NPP), in a petition submitted to the EC to espouse its calls for a new voters’ register ahead of the general elections in November, alleged that some names had zero attached as their ages, indicating the presence of minors on the current register.

This, they believed, leaves the credibility of the current register in doubt, making it imperative for a new register to be compiled.

In response to the NPP’s demands, the EC explained that the bug “caused the system to produce these incorrect entries.”

The EC added that the bug, which has since been fixed, affected only 120 names on the register, thus it would be unadvisable to create a new register as a result.

“The error affected 120 entries. The bug has been found and fixed. A software bug affecting 120 entries in a register with over 14 million entries cannot, in our view, be the basis for the creation of a new register.”

No residential addresses

The NPP also expressed concern over the fact that no residential addresses were provided on the voters’ register in its petition to the EC.

 The Commission argued that despite the fact that the residential addresses of applicants during the registration process were indeed noted, privacy issues prevented them from being displayed on the register.

“The EC collects residential addresses of all applicants during registration. The aim for collecting this data is to make it available to political parties and the public for purposes of campaigning and cleaning of the roll. 

“Concerns about handing over addresses of every adult Ghanaian to third parties have stalled its publication. 

“The Commission is studying the issues of privacy as against its desire to have it published as expressed in law to make a determination that will be satisfactory to all parties.”