GES Grants Form 2 SHS Students 3 Days Off To Participate In Voter Registration Exercise

• Form two SHS students aged 18 and over have been given the chance to take part in the voter registration exercise
• The Ghana Education Service has given the students three days off, starting September 22, 2023
• The GES said the move was in line with the constitutional regulation granting them the right to vote

The Ghana Education Service (GES) permitted form two senior high school students 18 years and older to travel home to participate in the voter registration exercise.

The students have been granted three days off from campus, from Friday, September 22 to Sunday, September 24, 2023.

The GES, in a statement, said the decision is in line with the constitutional regulation granting them the right to vote.

The GES directed all Regional Directors of Education to relay the announcement to all secondary school head teachers.

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The registration exercise began on September 12, 2023, at all the 268 District offices of the commission nationwide for eligible Ghanaians and will end on October 2, 2023.

Lawsuit against registration

After an earlier threat, the NDC and four other political parties sued the EC because it has restricted the upcoming voter registration exercise to its district offices.

YEN.com.gh reported that the Convention People’s Party, the All People’s Congress, the Liberal Party of Ghana and the Great Consolidated Popular Party joined the NDC in the lawsuit.

The parties were pushing for an interlocutory injunction to restrain the EC, but the case has not been heard.

They are concerned that the format of the exercise will deprive eligible voters of their right to register to vote. NDC's Communication Officer, Sammy Gyamifi, expressed concern that the EC was trying to meddle with the election.

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CSO urges citizens to challenge EC

A civil society organisation, CARE GHANA, earlier urged citizens to take an interest in the concerns raised about the voter registration exercise.

The CSO’s Executive Director, David Kumi Addo, told YEN.com.gh that citizens could also pursue legal action because of the concerns about disenfranchisement.

The group also believes the commission is undermining the decentralisation efforts with its actions.

Source: YEN.com.gh