EC suspends registration of new voters
The Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan, has directed that the ongoing voters’ registration in all parts of the country should be put on hold pending a thorough discussion with the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).
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His directive follows a boycott by some political parties that they were not properly consulted before the exercise.
This was contained in a release signed by Mr Christian Owusu-Parry, the acting Director, Public Affairs of the EC, and copied to the Daily Graphic in Accra.
“All district officers of the commission and the general public are to take note of this directive and comply,” the statement said.
The registration exercise, which began last week was, to allow teenagers who just attained 18 years to register ahead of the 2016 general election.
The exercise was also to allow those who had misplaced their voters identification (ID) cards to obtain a replacement.
Earlier, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) expressed surprise over the decision of the Electoral Commission (EC) to open the continuous voter registration exercise without the consent of the various political parties.
The two parties therefore called for broad stakeholder consultations before proceeding with the exercise. Some other political parties, including the People’s National Convention, Progressive People’s Party and Convention People’s Party, were also incensed by the decision of the EC to go ahead with the registration process without informing them and so had condemned the action.
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The General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, said although the existing electoral regulations did not compel the EC to seek permission from the parties before embarking on the exercise, it was in line with good governance to keep the parties in the know.
“I also heard on radio just like anyone that the exercise has begun. I was not informed neither was the NDC informed about it but, at least, they should have informed us to sensitise our members.
“Already, I have heard my colleagues Kwabena Agyepong and Bernard Mornah speaking about it so I will consult them so we decide how to deal with this matter collectively.”
In a statement signed by the General Secretary of the NPP, Mr Kwabena Agyepong, on Monday, the NPP also called on the EC to suspend the ongoing continuous voter registration exercise until all the necessary stakeholder consultations had been made.
According to the party, the exercise was in breach of the regulations governing electoral processes in the country.
In the view of the NPP, the EC must engage the various political parties before proceeding with the exercise.
The Director of Elections of the NPP, Mr Martin Agyei Mensah Korsah, said the Constitutional Instrument (CI) 7 regulation 2 (3) mandated the EC to officially inform political parties about the exercise.
The Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Koku Anyidoho, in an interview with Joy FM, said the EC must quickly convene an IPAC meeting to discuss the matter.
"EC cannot say IPAC is not a constitutional animal and {so} can operate without us," he said.
While he admited that the EC could operate without the parties when it was organising district level elections - because those elections are non-partisan - he was quick to add that if the EC was registering people for the sake of taking part in the district elections, it must inform the parties because the voters register to be used for the district level elections would be the same for the national elections.