'Ghosts' on voters' register 'big problem to 50% turnout in referendum - Reg Minister
The Western Regional Minister, Dr Kwaku Afriyie has expressed concern about the number of ghost names on the voters register saying that may affect the outcome of the referendum on the creation of six new regions.
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This according to the Minister, was his observation by midday on the exercise which is expected to close at
“I was expecting a very massive turnout, it is still okay, I’m not pessimistic, I think things are going well so they are doing fine but, I am saying that the arithmetic in the calculations is a bit difficult for me to accept,"
Per the law, there should be at least a 50
Sharing his thoughts on the exercise as of now,
"It will affect turnout, I believe the system is not fair because they [Electoral Commission] put the burden of removing people on relatives, communities, and people don’t really care and it is coming home in this referendum, where a threshold has been put on 50
"But you know what, the burden has been put on people to come and remove the names of their relatives and there is a burden on them. Sometimes they ask them to go and bring death certificates and in the villages, a lot of people get buried without death certificates. Sometimes you are even entreated to go and sign an affidavit and that is a big problem."
“This one has brought it to the fore and I will say that the Electoral Commission should come with a better way of cleaning the register.
"I will suggest that maybe wherever every village committee meets, they should exhibit when people say that these people are dead, they should take it on the face value and then put them in a bank, so that if the dead person should resurrect, that is, if inadvertently somebody is pronounced dead, and it is not so, they can go back to the bank and let the person vote, but for now I see it as a big problem with regard to the 50
He said the matter of the creation of the new Western North region was a generational thing and that they are not doing it for themselves but “those coming after us”.
Meanwhile, Graphic Online's Western Regional correspondent, Koblah Dotsey Aklorbortu reports that the exercise is moving smoothly.
According to our reporter, the two main political parties the NDC and the NPP are working together to ensure a smooth exercise for the creation of the new Western North region.
A former Regional Minister,
A total of about 501,306 eligible voters are expected to cast their ballot in nine districts in 1001 polling stations.
The nine districts within the new region
Writer's email: enoch.frimpong@graphic.com.gh