ECOWAS Urges Election Observers to Prioritise Data Quality Over Quantity

CONAKRY — ECOWAS has called on its election observers to focus on producing accurate, high-quality data rather than rushing to cover as many polling stations as possible.

Speaking at a debriefing session with observers of Guinea’s legislative and local elections in Conakry, Serigne Mamadou Ka, Acting Head of the Electoral Assistance Division within the Directorate of Political Affairs, advised that the number of polling stations visited matters less than the reliability of the information collected.

“It does not matter how many polling stations you cover. What matters is the quality of the data observers send to ECOWAS. If you send us wrong data, our records will be misinformed,” Ka said.

He revealed that while the elections were underway, the ECOWAS “strong room” received some reports whose credibility was in doubt.

“We were not sure if the data we received was done professionally or just to fill the box. We are not here to just tick the box,” he added.

Ka noted that some reports raised questions about their realism — for example, one team claimed to have covered 53 polling stations.

“It is not a race — whether you cover twenty, thirty-five, or fifty. You can cover just five polling stations, but let it be quality. Cover fifteen, let it be quality. That is what I am proposing. I did not know they had put in place a plan to reward those who did quality work,” he said.

He further stressed that any reward system would be based on the quality of the records submitted.

“If you give me 100 records, I will look at the quality before rewarding you. We know which team reported from where, and we know who was there. We are not going to mention names, but let it be your duty. This mission is not just to report or tick the box — it is a scientific exercise. I want to encourage all of us so that our reports will be better.”