Voter Registration Exercise: CSO Urges Ghanaians To Rally In Protest Against Electoral Commission

• A civil society organisation has charged 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
• The group believes that Electoral Commission is undermining the decentralisation efforts with its actions

CARE GHANA, a CSO that monitors the electoral process, is concerned about the lack of engagement of citizens on the concerns with the voter registration exercise being limited to district capitals.

In an interview with YEN.com.gh, the CSO’s Executive Director, David Kumi Addo, stressed that regular citizens were also key stakeholders in the election process, not just politicians.

“If we leave the thing for the party people, it is mostly seen as a partisan issue, which naturally is not supposed to be so.”

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"They want to suppress votes": Sammy Gyamfi justifies lawsuit against EC over limited voter registration exercise

While CARE GHANA is in support of the legal action from some political parties to make the voter registration, Addo said citizens should also make some noise on the issue.

“If a political party is taking the EC on, it is to serve their interst an their ambitions. But citizens must equally participate in what is happening.”

“Citizens can equally take the Electoral Commission to court and citizens can demonstrated their displeasure by going on a demonstration,” he added.

The group has already released a statement criticising the EC’s decision to limit the registration process to the district offices.

It noted that the EC was undermining decentralisation with its actions.

“Voter registration at only districts offices of the EC before the commencement of a district assembly elections demonstrate the lack of understanding to the importance of decentralisation and participatory democracy.”

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NDC and 4 other parties sue Electoral Commission over limited voter registration exercise

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.

The Convention People’s Party joined the NDC, the All People’s Congress, the Liberal Party of Ghana and the Great Consolidated Popular Party. The parties are pushing for an interlocutory injunction to restrain the EC.

They are concerned that the format of the exercise will deprive eligible voters of their right to register to vote.

The party’s Communication Officer, Sammy Gyamifi, said there were concerns the EC was trying to meddle with the election.

Limited voters’ registration exercise to start September 12, 2023

The EC will hold a voters’ registration exercise to target individuals who have reached the voting age of 18.

This continuous voter registration will run from Tuesday, September 12, 2023, to Monday, October 2, 2023.

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Mahama urges EC to expand limited voter registration exercise: “Access to a voter ID should be easy”

The registration will take place at all 268 district offices across the nation.

Addressing the press, the Electoral Commissioner, Jean Mensa, also noted that misplaced voter ID cards would be replaced at a fee of GH¢10.

Source: YEN.com.gh