EC rejects claims of collusion with NPP

-Promises to register all eligible voters

–As 182,831 have been registered in 6 days

By Elvis DARKO, Accra

The Electoral Commission (EC) has vehemently rejected accusations of conniving with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to disenfranchise voters in the ongoing limited voter registration exercise.

The EC explained that the issue of faulty devices has been recorded across all 16 regions except Savannah.

Addressing “Let the Citizen Know” press conference, Chairperson of EC Mrs Jean Mensa descried the allegations as untrue assuring that the EC is working assiduously to register every qualified voter.

“We have heard allegations from various quarters that the Commission is disenfranchising eligible voters and this is false.

“It is not in our interest to disenfranchise any eligible voter. We pride ourselves that our voter register meets international best practices,” she stressed.

182,831 voters registered in 6 days

She disclosed that a total of 182,831 voters comprising 53.9% males as against 46.1% females have been registered in the first six days. 

Regional breakdown

She gave the regional breakdown as Ashanti-29,255 representing 16%, Greater Accra -27,264 representing 14.9%, Eastern-19,327 representing 10.6%; Central-17,590 representing 9.6% and Volta-12,681 representing 6.9%.”

The rest are Western -11,644 representing 6.4%; Upper East-8,639 representing 4.7%;  Western North-6,491 representing 3.6%; Bono – 6,580 representing 3.6%; Upper West – 5,241 representing 2.9%;  Oti – 4,427 representing 2.4%; and Ahafo-4,244 representing 2.3%.

NDC’s accusations

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the EC of deliberately dispatching faulty machines to some of its district offices in areas deemed NDC strongholds to frustrate eligible voters. 

The NDC has also criticized the EC for limiting the exercise to district offices instead polling stations.

Scores of people gathered at the various district offices of the EC every day to register for the Voter’s identification cards.

Network and internet connectivity challenges

However, sow network and internet connectivity challenges keep delaying the exercise in many registration centres across the country

The EC said the online registration will make it possible to immediately detect double registration at the point of registration.

Offline registration

Following reports of network connectivity challenges related to the online registration system which delays the registration process in some centres, the EC directed its officers to register new voters offline if they encounter difficulty with the online registration system. 

Challenges addressed

Mrs Mensa said the challenges have been addressed and that the registration is going smoothly.

“As a Commission, we are working around the clock to ensure that every eligible voter or person who is eligible to register does so with ease,” she said.

The EC chairperson acknowledged that the Commission’s policy to use 268 district offices as registration centres has attracted some criticism from some section of society.

“As you are all aware, the Commission conducted a full-blown registration exercise in some 33,000 plus polling stations in 2020 and it is important to note that the current exercise is an update of the register,” she added.

Meanwhile, the commission has assured that the restriction of the registration to its district offices will not in any way disenfranchise voters as the commission plans to hold continuous registration in the district offices as well as mop-up exercises in hard-to-reach areas before the 2024 elections.

The Registration is opened to Ghanaians who have attained the voting age of 18 years since the last registration in 2020, and others who are more than 18 years but could not register during the last registration exercise.

The ongoing limited voter registration is targeting to register at least 1.35 million people who have turned 18 years old since the last registration exercise in 2020.

The exercise which commenced on Tuesday, September 12 is expected to end on October 2, 2023.