Let’s ensure success of exhibition exercise

Another election year is here with us and preparations towards the successful conduct of the polls are going on feverishly.

Even in the face of legal issues that temporarily stalled the programme and processes of the Electoral Commission (EC), some headway has been made, with the EC being able to announce dates for the re-registration of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) registrants and the exhibition of the voters register.

Matters arising from the Supreme Court ruling, without doubt, have some ripple effect on the calendar of events, among other issues that have to do with the successful holding of this year’s polls.

It is the expectation of all that the processes towards the conduct of this year’s polls will not be hijacked by hiccups which will throw the plans and programmes of the EC out of gear.

The exhibition and registration exercises kicked off yesterday, but the re-registration will end on July 28, while the exhibition will continue till August 7.

The three-week nationwide exhibition exercise is aimed at providing the opportunity for registered voters to verify their information and make corrections, where necessary.

Reports from our correspondents and reporters in the field indicate that Day One of the exercise withnessed a very low turnout.

A school of thought has it that the typical Ghanaian attitude is to wait till the last moment of such exercises before they rush to beat the deadline.

The expenses that come with democracy do not only lie in monetary and logistical deployments but also the time that patrons of the system have to spend or, as some may say, ‘waste’ in completing the inherent processes for the conduct of  successful elections.

It is, therefore, imperative that all the voices that shape the processes of our democracy, such as our political parties, civil society organisations, religious institutions, traditional authorities and others, help ignite passion in our citizenry to participate in important exercises such as those currently going on.

The Daily Graphic believes that it is not enough to make noise about systemic infractions in our electoral system; anything that ensures that voters are not disenfranchised must be pursued with the needed vigour to ensure that those who need to vote are able to do so.

We are, therefore, calling on all the concerned stakeholders to impress on their various publics and whip up their enthusiasm in the ongoing exercise.

Our democracy can be sustained when all the stakeholders in the process live up to expectation until that level that we can all heave a sigh of relief that it’s a fait accompli.