The Electoral Commission (EC) has debunked claims by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) about some missing Biometric Verification Devices (BVD) belonging to them.
Clarifying the claims by the NDC at a press conference Wednesday, March 20, 2024, the EC noted that only five of their laptops are missing contrary to the NDC’s claims.
Dr. Bossman Asare, the deputy Chair of the Commission in charge of Corporate Services, addressing the media indicated that the stolen machines will not compromise the integrity of the 2024 polls, urging the public to remain calm.
The Minority caucus in Parliament had on Tuesday, March 19, alleged that seven BVDs have been from the EC’s office which needed to be probed.
Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, called upon the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Police Service to promptly investigate the matter.
But Dr. Bossman Asare, during the presser at the Commission’s headquarters clarified that all biometric devices are securely stored, affirming the Commission’s readiness for the December polls.
He said the missing devices were some laptops which do not contain any sensitive information.
“We are fully ready for the election and we can confirm that five laptops have been stolen and these are laptops that do not contain any information about anyone. They do not contain information, so there are no risks.”
Addressing a confusion amongst a section of the public with regards to BVDs and BVRs, he said “we are also picking up information that people are contradicting the BVDs and the BVRs. BVDs are used for verification and BVRs are for registration.
“You will have to connect the two devices before you can use them and with the BVDs, they are used only when we are going to vote. If someone steals the BVDs, they cannot use them and we want to emphasize that five laptops are missing and we are working with the police to retrieve them,” he noted.
