All discrepancies identified in Voter Register largely resolved, to be exhibited online - EC assures NDC
The Electoral Commission (EC) has said it has resolved a majority of the issues identified in the Provisional Voter Register (PVR).
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A statement dated September 25, 2024 and signed by the Chairperson of the commission, Mrs Jean Mensa noted that the available voter register was merely a draft and the EC has taken the necessary steps to correct all issues to ensure a credible and robust register for the upcoming elections.
The explanation from the EC was a response to a petition the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) submitted to the electoral body on September 17, 2024 as part of the nationwide protest dubbed; “Enough is Enough” to demand an independent forensic audit of the register.
The NDC had said there were unidentifiable and missing voter data in the provisional register; illegal voter transfers and was therefore demanding a re-exhibition of the Provisional Voters Register.
In response, the EC explained that that like any other human endeavour, the registration of voters was bound to have mistakes, for which reason Regulation 23 of C.I. 91, amended as C.I. 126 provided clear and well-defined pathways to cure and deal with likely anomalies.
These include missing names, errors in biographical data, duplicates, the existence of deceased persons on the register, incorrect designation of Polling Stations among others.
“Thankfully, there exist legal and administrative remedies to resolve all post-registration issues. It is for these reasons that we assured you during our meeting on the 6th of September, 2024 that the category of issues you presented had largely been resolved. We indicated that the issues you had detected were the usual issues that arise from every Registration Exercise which find expression in the PVR,” it explained.
The statement further explained that in cleaning the PVR, the EC employed the same rigorous and effective four-pronged approach it did prior to the production of the final register in 2020.
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“It worked effectively. Evidence shows that there were no voters who were denied the opportunity to vote during the 2020 Elections due to discrepancies. This is the same approach we have adopted to clean the 2024 PVR and we have no doubt that it will deliver the same outcome, namely a credible and robust Final Voters Register ahead of the 2024 Elections,” it added.
The EC, therefore, stated categorically that it did not need external assistance as existing legal and administrative processes for cleaning the PVR have not been fully exhausted to justify the call for a forensic audit.
On the issue of the re-exhibition of the Provisional Voters Register, the commission said while it was not opposed to undertaking another Physical Exhibition of the corrected PVR in the entire 40,000 plus Exhibition Centres, given the time it takes to print and distribute the PVR (three to four weeks), it will not be feasible to achieve this due to the limited time to the general election.
“The Commission intends to implement online exhibition of the PVR at no cost to registered voters. Voters will be able to report on anomalies with their details within a time frame to be made available to the public. The voters register will be displayed online until Election Day,” it added.
The EC therefore invited the opposition NDC to the discussion table to enable it demonstrate that the discrepancies with the PVR have been resolved.