We are not compiling new register for 2024 but… – Electoral Commission
Reports that the Electoral Commission (EC) might create a fresh voter registry for the 2024 elections have been refuted.
The Commission said it instead put in place procedures to ensure the continuing registration of people onto the register while maintaining that the register that was created for the 2020 Election was still trustworthy.
The Ghana card will serve as the foundational document for the new registration procedure, according to Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, Director of Electoral Services at the Electoral Commission (EC).
“We are not compiling a new voters’ register. The one we compiled in 2020 is a credible one, a very good register so we are not dispensing it. But you and I are aware that people have been saying that, why don’t you roll out continuous registration so that when somebody turns 18, the person goes to our offices and register,” Dr Quaicoe said in a television interview with TV3 on Wednesday (July 14, 2022).
“That is exactly what we are doing. What we are seeking to do is that we are coming out with a new Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) which we have had a series of Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meetings with the political parties.”
Dr. Quaicoe responded to the opposition National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) worries that the country would become unstable if a new register was created using the Ghana Card as its foundation. The NDC, however, had boycotted Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meetings since 2015 and had not been briefed on the process.
“Obviously, the NDC has not been attending IPAC meetings of late, after 2020 they have not been attending but all the political parties have been attending and they can all attest to the fact that we have taken them through the new CI, we have discussed everything thoroughly.
“So, what we are saying is that, if people are going to register any day at our district offices, then they need some credible form of identification and it is possible that once it is going to be continuous the political parties will not be there to be guaranteeing or objecting to.
“So why don’t we emphasize on the Ghana Card so that once you have your Ghana Card, we believe that you might have gone through the screening, so you come to our office with the Ghana card and we will enroll you onto the register. We are talking of continuous registration of people who have not registered, we are not using the data from the National Identification Authority (NIA), no.”
Haruna Iddrisu, the leader of the opposition in parliament, said that the EC intended to build a new voter list for the general elections in 2024. He claimed that this would make the nation unstable.
