The flag bearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to expand the voter registration centres for its ongoing limited registration exercise.
He made the call yesterday, September 17, 2023 in Accra, when he visited some selected EC registration centers in the Ayawaso West Wougon, after receiving several complains from the district offices.
The Ex-President opined that, increasing the number of centers could alleviate many of the issues currently being experienced, such as network problems and congestion.
These challenges, according to him, could be reduced should the EC expand the registration centers and also use multiple telecommunication companies (Telcos) to ease congestion and also speed up the registration process.
“Because it’s being done in the district offices, there is a lot of congestion because people are coming from all over to one point to come and register,” he said.
“The second thing I have noticed is that, the network is not strong and so they are not able to do the instant online registration and so they are capturing some of the data offline. The danger is sometimes, there is a repeat of somebody’s name not through any fault of his. I hear they are using only MTN, but normally you use multiple Telcos, so that if one is slow it can jump to another,” he reiterated.
Mr. Mahama explained that most of the youths he spoke to at the centers are between the ages of 15-21 years and were without Ghana Card, which he said, explained was the reason why the EC’s decision to use the Ghana Card as the sole identification document to register to vote in the 2024 polls could not materialise. Parliament on March 31, 2023 directed the electoral body to return to the drawing board if they want the Ghana Card to be used as the sole identification document.
“I think parliament was right to insist that the guarantor system must be used,” he added.
The NDC flag bearer charged the National Identification Authority to up their game to enable more people have access to their Ghana Cards, such that should it be considered as the sole identification document for any election in the future, it will not disfranchise any person.
He reiterated his call on the EC to help resolve the pending issues, saying “we know the hardship in the country now and how transport fares have gone up, it’s not easy on anyone to return to the center because they were not able to register on their first visit.
“You will be lucky if they come back, in some cases they might not come back because they will get frustrated by the process and that will disenfranchise them, this is why we are saying the centers should be moved closer to their polling stations and that would have been easier for them,” he bemoaned.
He said applicants who are in school have to give up their studies for days in an attempt to go through with the registration, adding that “if they are persistent enough to register, it means they will have to miss several hours of their education”
The highest number that has been registered so far is one hundred and seventy people, meanwhile the centers record more than that on a daily basis, he said.
Background
The Electoral Commission, last week announced the commencement of the 2023 voters’ registration exercise on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 and end on Monday, October 2, 2023.
In the said announcement, the Commission added that the exercise will take place at its district offices across the country, and also disclosed a GH¢10 charge for the replacement of a lost or misplaced voter’s ID card.
This, however, did not sit well with some political parties who believe holding the exercise at district offices would limit the registration process, disenfranchising eligible Ghanaian voters.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) and four other political parties on Thursday, September 7 sued the Electoral Commission (EC) over its insistence on conducting the 2023 limited voter registration exercise at its district offices.
They believe the decision will disenfranchise many eligible voters.
