The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, has reiterated the need for the Electoral Commission to expand the centres for its limited voter registration exercise.

Mr Mahama who toured some registration centres in Accra believes that many of the challenges being recorded in some of the centres, including faulty machines, network issues and long queues among others, could be reduced should there be more centres.

“Now that we've seen the challenges, it probably is not too late to open the centres in the electoral areas because it will be easier for people to travel. I mean, for instance, Ayawaso West Wougon is here. The farthest polling station in Ayawaso West Wougon is at Sator. And so there are people here from Sator who have had to travel all this way to come and register."

“They might not be able to register today. They might have to go back and come the following day. I mean, we know the conditions in Ghana today, the hardship. We know how transport fares have gone up. It's not easy on voters to be able to do that.”

Mr Mahama stated that even though political parties are helping some constituents so they can register, they cannot bus everyone to the registration centres.

“And if somebody doesn't have money, he won't come and register. He doesn't have money for transport to come all the way. But anywhere in his electoral area, it will be a shorter distance. In the meantime, I think the EC should resolve the bottlenecks that we are seeing here."

"One, there is congestion, two, the network is not going well. In one of the constituencies they registered 50 on the first day, then I think the next day 80. The highest they've registered in a day is 170. But if you look at these numbers, they will keep coming every day and so we need to speed up the process.”

Last week, the Electoral Commission announced that it will commence the 2023 voters’ registration exercise on Tuesday, September 12, and end on Monday, October 2. 

In the said announcement, the Commission added that the exercise will take place at its district offices across the country. The EC also disclosed a GH¢10 charge for the replacement of a lost or misplaced voter’s ID card.

However, this did not sit well with many political parties who believe holding the exercise at district offices would limit the registration process, disenfranchising eligible Ghanaian voters.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) and four other political parties on Thursday, September 7 sued the Electoral Commission (EC) over its insistence on conducting the 2023 limited voter registration exercise at its district offices.

The suit which is joined by the Convention People’s Party (CPP), All People’s Congress (APC), Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) and the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) say the decision will disenfranchise many eligible voters. 

But, the case is yet to be heard by the court.

Meanwhile, Deputy Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Serebuor Quaicoe, says the Electoral Commission as part of its mandate is concerned with protecting the sanctity of the voters’ register.

According to him, those calling for the extension of the limited voters’ registration from the district offices to the electoral areas are only concerned about increasing the number of new registrants and not the sanctity of the register.

https://www.backend.myjoyonline.com/were-trying-to-protect-the-sanctity-of-the-voters-register-ec-justifies-limited-voter-registration-exercise/

He said the district offices are more equipped at ensuring a clean register.