EC Chair advocates E-Voting to curb rejected ballots in African elections

Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson Jean Mensa has urged African election management bodies to consider electronic voting as a solution to the persistent issue of invalid and rejected ballots.

Speaking at the 9th Annual Continental Forum on Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) in Accra, she described rejected ballots as a subtle form of voter disenfranchisement.

She proposed adopting Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) machines, where voters would simply select their preferred candidate’s image or party logo on a screen.

Highlighting disparities in rejected ballot rates across Africa—ranging from 0.02% in The Gambia to 27.93% in Togo—Mensa warned that high invalid vote rates undermine trust in electoral systems.

In Ghana, rejected ballots have remained between 1% and 3% since 1992, prompting the EC to conduct audits and intensify voter education.

She noted that reforms ahead of the 2024 elections reduced the rate from 2.33% in 2020 to 2.03%.

Mensa called on electoral bodies to embrace technological innovations to improve electoral integrity and efficiency.