Voter registration exercise: EC cautions temporary staff over electoral laws breaches

The Electoral Commission (EC) has warned its temporary officials undertaking the ongoing limited voter registration exercise that it will not countenance a breach of its electoral laws. 

It said any person found violating its electoral laws would be handed over to the police and permanently blacklisted by the Commission. This follows an incident that took place during the ongoing registration exercise at the Pusiga District Registration Centre in the Upper East Region on May 13, 2024 involving a Registration Officer at the centre.

A statement issued and signed by the acting  Director of Public Affairs at the EC, Michael Boadu, following the incident said during the exercise at the centre on the said date, a Data Entry Clerk observed suspicious Ghana Card numbers on 17 Registration Forms and accordingly notified the District Electoral Officer.

Investigation

Upon investigation, the statement said it was revealed that the Ghana Card numbers were fake. It was further discovered that the Registration Officer at that centre was complicit because he did not physically inspect the Ghana Card of individual applicants but rather accepted the fake numbers from party agents who had accompanied the 17 applicants.

It said the Registration Officer involved in the said incident was dismissed by the Commission and a report was made to the police which led to his arrest. It said the Registration Officer had since been granted a police enquiry bail while investigations into the matter continued.

The statement said the 17 applicants were subsequently registered through the guarantor system. “The Commission assures all its stakeholders and the general public that the Voters Registration Exercise is being conducted in a transparent and inclusive manner.

Despite the challenges encountered on the first two days, the Commission is on schedule to register the projected 623,000 voters by the end of the exercise,” it said. “We count on the cooperation and vigilance of all citizens to ensure that the remaining period of the registration is peaceful and successful,” the Commission said.