Limited registration must be clean and peaceful

The journey towards Election 2016 begins on Thursday, April 28, 2016, when young people who have attained 18 years will go to designated registration centres to register as voters in a limited registration exercise.

The exercise will also be an opportunity for adults who, for one reason or another, were unable to register in previous exercises to become eligible voters in any election.

The Electoral Commission (EC) discarded its initial plan to do the registration in March 2016 because the Constitutional Instrument (CI) which was to regulate the registration and had been laid in Parliament was yet to mature.

The EC said it would need to embark on public education on the limited registration exercise, which could only be started after the CI had been passed.

The commission also said it had only 3,500 registration kits for the 6,156 electoral areas in the country and would want to merge some electoral areas to be able to deploy more kits to areas where there were more people.

From all indications, the EC is all set to roll out the registration exercise with as little glitch as possible under prevailing circumstances.

But it will take more than the EC to make the exercise peaceful and successful. All the political parties, as well as the public, have a civic responsibility to ensure that the exercise runs smoothly.

It has become a generally accepted fact that the current voters register is bloated with ghost names and the names of minors. As a result, some people have asked for a general clean-up or an overhaul of the register, while others have asked for a complete replacement.

Next week Thursday’s exercise will be the real test to prove whether those calling for a clean register have only been blowing hot air all this while or they are genuine in their call.

Anytime there has been such a registration exercise, it has been supporters of the two major political parties — the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) — who have fomented trouble at the centres.

The Daily Graphic, therefore, urges the leadership of both parties to rein in their supporters and caution them not to interfere unnecessarily in the exercise or else risk sanctions.

There are basic rules that must be adhered to, such as refraining from registering minors or foreigners or registering twice, all of which are crimes that are punishable under the laws of the state.

While we urge vigilance from party faithful in the upcoming exercise, we also pray party followers or sympathisers to desist from creating any form of confusion during the registration period.

It is the civic responsibility of every mature Ghanaian to register to vote and we urge the youth who have turned 18 not to shirk that responsibility or be coerced by anyone to decline participation.

We also ask Ghanaians who have refused to register in past exercises to take part in the coming registration, so that they are not disenfranchised during Election 2016 and all district or national elections that will require the use of the voters ID card.

The Daily Graphic also prays the EC to ensure that all equipment needed for the registration functions properly and is manned by well-trained personnel before the D-day, with an effective back-up plan in place.