Another last chance

The Electoral Commission (EC) began the extended period of its re-registration exercise yesterday.

This will last for eight days to ensure that deleted NHIS registrants will have their names recaptured in the voters register ahead of the December polls.

During the first phase of the exercise, the EC successfully re-registered 22,107 people out of the 56,772 whose names were deleted from the electoral roll, leaving about 34,665 to be re-registered.

The exercise, which was supposed to have ended on July 28, 2016, had to be extended following calls, petitions and concerns raised by some of the affected individuals, various groups and political parties for the EC to extend the deadline to enable more people to re-register.

The Communications Director of the EC, Mr Eric Dzakpasu, had earlier indicated at a press conference that “there is no evidence that when an extension is granted the remaining people will come out of their houses or communities to get their name re-registered”.

 Reports from across the country on the first day of the extended period indicated that turnout for re-registration was very low, leaving the officials manning the registration centres with little or no work to do.

 This is the last opportunity for those who could not register in the first instance to do so because the EC is working to ensure that no Ghanaian is disenfranchised.

 It is important to note that the process is very expensive and that it costs a fortune for the EC to compile a credible voters register that can stand the test of time.

 The Daily Graphic believes that compiling a credible voters register that is acceptable to all stakeholders is a major step towards deepening the country’s democratic credentials and consolidating the unity of the country after elections.

We dare say that once the EC has heeded to calls from the various stakeholders for an extension of the reregistration exercise, the political parties must also ensure that they assist the commission by intensifying campaigns on the exercise. After all, having a credible register is a shared responsibility. 

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) must also be resourced to intensify its civic education to ensure that citizens, particularly those in the rural areas, get another opportunity to be re-registered.

The EC itself must use the various media networks to reach out to those whose names have been deleted from the register but could not register in the first instance. This is the surest way to ensure that every citizen of sound mind has the opportunity to participate in the electoral process.

We are confident that these processes, once followed, will ensure the integrity of the electoral process, with no complaints about citizens being disenfranchised, so that the outcome of the elections will be acceptable to all parties.

The Daily Graphic urges voters who have not verified their names on the register to hurry to the exhibition centres today and tomorrow to check their names before the curtain is drawn on the exhibition exercise.

It is the last chance for all voters to be assured of their licence to vote on December 7.