Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw
Owusu
Monday, August
31, 2015
New Patriotic Party branch in the United Kingdom (NPP-UK) has been
compiling statistical data of what it claims is the proof that Ghana's current
voter register is bloated.
It has therefore, urged all stakeholders to mount incessant pressure
on the Electoral Commission (EC) to reform the electoral system, stressing the need
for a new register as a major step in the process before the 2016 general
elections.
“There is
incontrovertible evidence to suggest that the register as it stands is bloated
for a variety of reasons,” Michael Ansah, chairman of NPP-UK, said at a news
conference to mark the second anniversary of what the political grouping called
‘Injustice Day’ when the Supreme Court delivered judgement in the landmark presidential
election petition in 2012.
“Only a week
ago in Accra, the NPP presented its case for a new voter register to the
Electoral Commission of Ghana, and also to the people of Ghana. We made it
clear in that presentation that the voter register as it stands is ‘incurably
flawed’ and cannot be relied on for the 2016 presidential and parliamentary
elections,” he said.
According to
the NPP-UK, there was a huge disparity between the total number of registered
voters, which stood at 13,628,817, following the last registration exercise,
and the total gazetted by the EC, which was 14,158,890 saying, “This difference
of 530,073 - claimed to be made up of overseas voters - has not been fully
accounted for, apart from only 705.”
Mr. Ansah said
that then EC chairman, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, and President John Mahama had
both raised ‘substantial doubts’ about the validity of the register during the
2008 election and questioned its credibility “on the basis of sheer size and
numbers of registered voters relative to our national population.”
He continued, “The
then EC chairman raised doubt when he said that 13 million voters on the
register in 2008 was statistically unacceptable by ‘world standards.”
He recalled
that President Mahama, then running mate to Prof John Atta Mills, had also said
that “with the current national population of 22 million, having almost 13
million people on the voter register is unheard of.”
Relying on ‘available data’ Mr. Ansah
said it was clear that there is “unusual increases in the voters register in
several constituencies between 2008 and 2012,” adding “in general, an increase
in the voters register between two elections of a magnitude above 10-15% is
deemed high, given population growth and migration trends. However, an increase
of the voters register by 25% between two elections is abnormally high and
there are also several instances of this across constituencies in Ghana.”
“One cannot credibly explain for
example how increases in the voters’ register of magnitudes exceeding 40% can
take place. Again, these increases are indefensible. This statistical anomaly
must be checked to remove any doubt as to the validity of the register as it
stands.”
Mr. Ansah said new EC Chairperson Mrs. Charlotte Osei “has a new
mandate, and must use this to bury the ghosts of the past, and begin a new
chapter,” saying “the reasons presented and the case made, means that there
remains a window of opportunity for the new EC Chairman to act now, and to
replace the register NOW!”
He said if the
register is replaced, it will restore the validity and ensure trust in the electoral
system saying “we want to see our democracy mature. We want to see our systems
improve.”
“The EC has in
times past, adhered to calls for reform, calls for a new register, and calls to
maintain the integrity of our elections process. It must again listen to the
voice of the people.”
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