NDC Threatens Legal Action Against Electoral Commission Over Limited Voter Registration Exercise

• The NDC Legal Affairs Directorate has threatened legal action against the Electoral Commission over the upcoming limited voter registration exercise
• NDC members are concerned that the lack of decentralisation in the registration will disenfranchise voters
• Afram Plains North MP told YEN.com.gh about the unique difficulties her constituents face

The Legal Affairs Directorate of the National Democratic Congress has said the party is considering legally challenging the upcoming limited voter registration exercise at the Electoral Commission's district offices.

The NDC has called for the registration process to be expanded beyond just the EC district offices.

The opposition party is concerned that most new voters will be disenfranchised if the EC is allowed to go by its plans.

Director of Legal Affairs for the NDC, Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, said the party will explore all legal channels to expand the registration.

Read also

“No alternative”: Ghana police run to court to stop NDC MPs' protest against Bank of Ghana governors

“The EC is applying the same law to only limit the registration to the district offices. We will explore all the available legal channels to ensure that we will get an outcome that will allow the [registration] to be more decentralized. We want to ensure that all our MPs are duly protected within the confines of our law, and we will definitely do that,” he said.

Some other political parties have also indicated their opposition to how the registration exercise is expected to be carried out.

Afram Plains North MP laments difficulties of constituents

Afram Plains North MP Betty Mensah, for example, noted to YEN.com.gh that majority of her constituency risked being disenfranchised because they live in islands on the Volta lake.

“It takes very long travels to commute from their various communities to the district capital," she said.

Read also

“I’m not going to tolerate this”: Alan Kyerematen condemns violence during NPP Super Delegates Congress

Mensah said that some trips to the district capital from island communities cost as much as GH¢500.

The MP further said the EC was aware of these difficulties because it delivers election materials there by air.

"My constituency is the only constituency in Ghana where the Electoral Commission itself brings ballots by air, so it means that the electoral commission itself recognizes and acknowledges the difficulties of this process.”

"If they do not consider them and they decide to develop a once sized approach with the limited registration then one way or the other, they are just trying to disenfranchise some citizens of the country," she said.

Voters' registration exercise to start September 12, 2023

The EC will hold a voters’ registration exercise targeted at 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.

Read also

"We're analysing the results": Alan Kyerematen speaks after NPP super delegates congress

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.

Warning against rigging from NDC MP

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the North Tongu MP, warned the EC against any plan to rig the upcoming elections in 2024 for the NPP.

The NDC MP said he suspected that the EC's insistence on making the Ghana Card the only ID for registration to vote was suspicious.

Ablakwa held that such moves were dangerous and could spell doom for Ghana's democracy. There were also concerns that EC wanted to compile a brand-new register.

Source: YEN.com.gh