The African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Saturday called for a viable backup verification mechanism to ensure smooth election process in Ghana.

The two blocs' observer missions to Ghana's elections suggested that the western African state's election comission explore the alternative use of voter identification and the manual voters register in future elections when the Biometric Verification Machines (BVM) break down during elections.

Addressing the media on their preliminary impression about Friday's general election, former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, leader of the two missions, asked the EC to continue to perfect the equipment in lesser elections including the District Assembly elections.

"There should be a fall-back position when all other things fail, and machine is machine, and can fail," said Obasanjo.

The former Nigerian leader said, "the EC must have the freedom to give orders as to what must be done in that situation so people are not disenfranchised just because a machine failed to work on Election Day".

Voting was disrupted in scores of polling stations across Ghana on Friday as the BVMs had mechanical problems. The affected areas had to adjourn the voting till Saturday.

But in two separate statements, the observer teams of the two missions said they found no reason to suspect that the breakdown of the BVMs was deliberate.

"Ghana has come a long way since 1992 in its commendable efforts to ensure transparent and credible electoral management processes, and strengthen democratic culture. All stakeholders therefore have a responsibility to preserve these achievements," said the ECOWAS statement read by Christiana Thorpe, chairman of the Electoral Com