The Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Citizenship, Constitutional and Electoral Systems (CenCES), James Kwabena Bomfeh, has called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to implement advanced technology to enable the instant declaration of election results.
His call follows ongoing delays in the release of parliamentary results for the Ablekuma North constituency in the Greater Accra Region.
Speaking on JoyNews, Mr. Bomfeh emphasised the urgent need for a modern, digital results transmission system to enhance transparency and eliminate prolonged waiting periods after elections.
He noted that such a system had been recommended years ago by the Electoral Reform Committee, which he was part of under the leadership of former EC Chair, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan.
Mr. Bomfeh explained that once votes are counted at a polling centre, the results should be immediately entered into a digital or biometric system that transmits the data first to the constituency collation centre, and then to the national collation centre in real time.
To illustrate, he cited his past experience contesting in Kintampo North, which had 133 polling stations at the time.
"There were about 133 polling centres in Kintampo North. Once the results from each centre are declared, they should be transmitted simultaneously; one to the constituency collation centre and another directly to the national collation centre."
He argued that such a system would allow the public to monitor the tallies in real-time, making it clear how many votes each candidate has earned before final validations are completed.
“While the constituency is tallying, we could already see in real time that Candidate A got this number of votes, likewise Candidate B. So, by the end of the tally, before verifying signatures and other formalities, we are already aware of the results.
Mr. Bomfeh believes adopting this technology would dramatically reduce delays, strengthen public trust, and minimize opportunities for result manipulation.
“If we implement this system, it would be extremely difficult for anyone to tamper with the results,” he said.
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