A group calling itself aRTICLE 42 has petitioned the Electoral Commission to allow Ghanaians abroad to partake in the voters’ registration exercise scheduled to begin on Tuesday June 30, 2020.

Global Coordinator for the group, Richard Sky in a statement copied to JoyNews said they intend, as law-abiding citizens, to vote and or take part in the 2020 national elections scheduled to take place in December.

However, as government has put in place measures, including the closure of boarders, to prevent the importation of Covid-19 in to the country, some Ghanaians are still abroad meaning they cannot participate in the registration exercise to vote in December.

This group wants the EC to assist in making it possible for them to register.

“We do not contest the EC's power to compile a new voters' register, more so when the Supreme Court adjudged on 25th June 2020 that the Commission should proceed with its plans to compose a new electoral roll.

“We, however, take the view that any compilation of a new voters' register that excludes those of us either currently living and or staying outside Ghana will amount to a violation of our constitutional right to vote and our legal entitlement to be registered as voters for public elections and referenda purposes under Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.”

The group believes that any exclusion of Ghanaians abroad from the upcoming registration exercise will violate their rights and entitlements as citizens and discriminate against them only because they are outside Ghana.

“We also believe that any registration of voters that does not include those of us living or staying outside Ghana will violate the letter and spirit of ROPAA 2006 and the High Court's decision in Kofi A. Boateng and Others vs the EC and the Attorney General.”

They are asking the EC to take all reasonable and lawful steps to ensure that those of us outside Ghana are registered to vote in the upcoming elections in December 2020 and beyond.

“We believe that in doing so, the EC would be protecting the sanctity of our right to vote in national elections as expressed by Article 42 of Ghana's 1992 Constitution and under ROPAA 2006.”