EC OPENS VOTER REGISTRATION

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday, August 4, 2014

The Electoral Commission (EC) is expected to begin the limited registration exercise today until August 13, as part of preparations towards the 2016 general elections.

The exercise is open to Ghanaians who have attained the age of 18 years since the compilation of the 2012 Voter Register, as well as eligible Ghanaians who were above 18 years during the main registration but did not have the opportunity to register.

The exercise, which originally was scheduled to take place in June, was suspended due to a lack of consensus between the EC and the political parties.

However, when all was set for commencement on Friday, July 25, 2014 – which was to have ended on Sunday, August 3, 2014 - the Supreme Court stopped the process following separate suits by some individuals who wanted the highest court to determine whether or not a prospective applicant could use the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) identity card to register.

The court, in a ruling last week, stopped the EC from allowing applicants to use NHIS ID cards for the registration exercise.

The EC has already issued a statement through Amadu Sulley, a deputy chairman of the Commission, saying "…the registration will take place at a designated registration centre in every electoral area.”

The statement indicated, “Prospective applicants are advised to look out for the registration centres in their electoral areas from the newspapers. They may also listen to the local announcement in their areas for the places designated as registration centres."

With the quashing of the NHIS IDs by the Supreme Court, applicants will be required to show identification documents as proof of eligibility such as Ghanaian passport, National Identification Card, driver’s licence or an old voter ID Card.

Eligible applicants who do not have any of the identification documents mentioned may find two Ghanaians who are already registered voters to guarantee their registration by completing a voter registration identification guarantee form.

The registration will start at 7:00 am and close at 6:00 pm each day, including Saturdays and Sundays, and it is running for 10 days.

NPP Alert

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has also issued an alert through its National Organizer, John Boadu, calling on its members to be ‘vigilant’ during the registration process.

“The NPP would like to bring to the attention of its members, supporters and the general public that, anyone who wants to register in the upcoming voters’ registration should note that only the following materials will be accepted as means of identification: Ghanaian passport, driver’s licence, National Identification Card or an old voter ID card.

“The use of the National Health Insurance card is illegal. It is not accepted. We encourage our supporters and patriotic Ghanaians to be vigilant and report any breach of the laws at any of the registration centres.”

Nana Joins

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who is desiring to lead the NPP once more, has suspended his campaign tour to monitor the exercise.

CODEO’s Input

In a related development, the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has announced that it would deploy 350 of its field volunteers to observe the exercise.

A statement issued in Accra and signed by Dr. Franklin Oduro, Project Manager and Acting CODEO Coordinator said, “CODEO observers will be deployed in all the 216 districts in Ghana and will conduct roaming observation at the designated registration centers.”

The statement said that CODEO observation of the limited voter registration heralded its comprehensive project to observe the 2014 Local Government Elections adding, “CODEO will observe all activities in the three phases of the electoral process – periods before the elections, the election day and the immediate post-election environment.”