We’ll obey orders to furnish Supreme Court with list of ‘NHIS voters’ — EC
The Electoral Commission (EC) has given an assurance that it is ready to comply with the orders of the Supreme Court which enjoin it to furnish the court with the full list of all those on the electoral roll who registered with National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cards.
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Speaking to journalists at a National Police Command Conference in Accra yesterday, the Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Operations, Mr Amadu Sulley, said, “The Supreme Court is the apex court and we operate within the laws of this land. We are not above the law and so we will comply with the order.”
When asked if the EC could meet the June 29 deadline set by the Supreme Court, he answered in the affirmative, saying, “Whatever it is the Supreme Court has ordered, if we are not able to meet the deadline, that would be another situation.”
He said the Director of Elections of the EC, Mr Samuel Tettey, had tasked some personnel of the EC across the country to produce the list of all persons who registered as voters for the 2012 elections using NHIS cards as a form of identification.
“And as l speak now, they are working,” he added.
The Supreme Court last Thursday ordered the EC to, within six days, furnish it with the full list of all those on the electoral roll who registered with NHIS cards as a form of identification.
The EC was also ordered by the court to submit a statement on the steps and modalities it would adopt to delete the names of the people who registered with these cards and give those people the opportunity to re-register if they are qualified.
Following a suit filed by Mr Abu Ramadan, a former National Youth Organiser of the People’s National Convention (PNC), and Mr Evans Nimako, the Supreme Court had, on May 5, 2016, asked the EC to expunge the names of all persons who registered with NHIS cards as a form of identification and voted in the 2012 elections from the current voters register.
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The two, among other reliefs, wanted the current register declared inappropriate for the November 2016 polls and went back to the court to seek a clarification of its May 5, 2016 ruling following the EC’s interpretation of the ruling.
Exhibition of register
Elaborating on the steps being taken by the EC to conduct this year’s elections, Mr Sulley said it would extend the period for the exhibition of the voters register from two to three weeks to ensure that all eligible voters whose names were on the provisional register had the opportunity to verify their biodata.
He also said because turnout during exhibitions had been very low in previous voter exhibition exercises, the extension was intended to ensure the participation of more people in the exercise.
Mr Sulley also said the exhibition centres would have biometric verification devices to enable eligible voters to verify their biometric data.
The exhibition of the voters register is carried out at all polling stations throughout the country in accordance with Regulation 22 (1) of the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations 2012, C. I. 72.
Polling stations
To reduce pressure and avoid delays, Mr Sulley said the EC had increased the current number of polling stations for the upcoming elections from 26,000 to 29,000.
Every polling station, he said, would have not more than 950 voters as a measure to reduce the number of people who could vote at a centre and prevent long queues.
“We are now printing the provisional voters register which will be used for the exhibition. We need to print more than 29,000 copies. We need to give copies of the register to all the registered political parties to ensure transparency,” Mr Sulley said.
Police support
Earlier in his remarks at the opening session of the National Police Command Conference, Mr Sulley said the EC was ready to work with all the security agencies to ensure that the elections came off smoothly.
He stated that following pockets of violence that occurred during the recent limited voters registration exercise, the EC had noted that some areas which were not considered as flashpoints had now become violence-prone areas.
He cited some places in the Volta, Brong Ahafo, Greater Accra and Ashanti regions as flashpoints, saying “we didn’t expect that. Normally during voters registration, we do not have such developments, and so we have to take note of them”.
He said the EC would need the support of the police and other security agencies at the district, regional and national levels during the distribution of electoral materials, the polls, counting at the various centres and when the ballot boxes were sent to the collation centres.
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