The Electoral Commission (EC) is ready to commence the compilation of fresh voters’ register amid resistance from some Civil Society Groups and political parties, a Deputy Research Director at the EC has said.

Fred Tetteh told JoyNews on Thursday that the EC has explained itself on several occasions and will go ahead with the registration as scheduled.

He reiterated the equipment needed for voting are at their and of life the need to strengthen verification processes are just a few reasons why a new voter management solution is needed.

According to him, features like facial recognition is just an added security and not the primary one. He also explained photos taken for the ID cards are not what the facial recognition is about.

Addressing concerns by critics that there is not enough time to compile a new register, Tetteh noted that 2020 would not be the first time fresh registration is being done in an election year.

Same was done in 2004 and 2012, he said.

Policy think tank, IMANI, however, maintains that the EC cannot meet the timeline if it goes ahead with the compilation.

According to a Senior Vice President of IMANI, Bright Simmons, the EC has to use a short cut to meet the timeline, but “the problem with shortcuts is they can be dangerous,” he said at a press briefing.

The Inter-Party Resistance Against New Voters’ Register is also another fierce foe to the compilation of the register.

The coalition has held a number of protests across the country in a bid to coerce the EC to kowtow to their demands.