Voters register exhibition intended to fix errors – EC replies NDC
The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana says the exhibition of the provisional voters register (PVR) is a crucial step in ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the electoral process.
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In a statement posted on social media on Thursday, the EC explained that the primary purpose of the exhibition exercise was to correct any errors or omissions before the final register is printed for use in the elections.
The EC's statement comes in the wake of issues raised by the opposition National Democratic Congress calling for errors to be corrected.
— Electoral Commission Of Ghana (@ECGhanaOfficial) August 28, 2024
The NDC flag bearer, John Dramani Mahama for instance on Wednesday admonished the Electoral Commission to fulfill its duties properly to ensure that the December 2024 elections is free from confusion.
He pointed out that the recent voter exhibition exercise conducted by the EC was riddled with numerous anomalies, which, if not addressed, could lead to chaos on election day.
Addressing supporters during a campaign event in Adjen Kotoku within the Amasaman constituency on Wednesday August 28, Mr Mahama expressed concern over issues such as missing names, unauthorised transfers, and multiple registrations that remain uncorrected.
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He therefore urged the EC to take swift action to protect the credibility of the upcoming elections.
“A lot of people cannot find their names. Other people’s names have been transferred without their knowledge. People have registered for a proxy without using their biometric cards. People who have done multiple registrations their names are still on the register,” he stated.
Reacting to this, the Commission said the process, which has been in place since 1992, allows for the identification and rectification of issues within the provisional register.
It added that only after all identified discrepancies are addressed is the final voters register compiled and prepared for the upcoming elections.
“The rationale for exhibiting the provisional voters register is to correct errors and omissions. It is only after all identified issues are corrected that the final register is printed for the elections. This has been the practice since 1992,”
For sometime now, all polling stations with more than 700 names on their voters register have been split into two — A and B — for the December 7 general elections.
In the 2020 elections, a similar thing was done by the Electoral Commission (EC) and it was explained that the move was to ensure that long queues were reduced at those polling stations during voting.
After this year's [2024] new voter registration exercise and addition to the old register, a similar thing has been done and when the register went for public exhibition last week, some voters who went out to check their names had to be moving from one polling station to the other to find their names.
This has raised some concerns with the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) raising issues with it after studying the Provisional Voters Register (PVR) given to the NDC by the EC.