The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) has advised the Electoral Commission (EC) to move a step up in its game by publicly educating the masses over the approaching limited voter registration drive.
The Commission also recommended that the EC uses mobile vans to educate the public.
Samuel Asare Akumoah, the Deputy Chairperson of NCCE, emphasized the necessity for the EC to convey to the public why they should participate in the registration process.
“In the past, the motivation was that the voter’s ID card was used for things other than elections. So, people would spend money to go and get it. Now they have Ghana Card, which they can use for other things. If this is for elections, and he thinks he doesn’t need it, he will not register. We need to motivate them, it’s mandatory that we provide access.”
Deputy Chairperson of NCCE
From September 12, 2023, to October 2, 2023, the EC plans to conduct a restricted voter registration for eligible Ghanaians who turned 18, after the 2020 registration period and other eligible voters. The EC’s Chairperson, Jean Mensa, announced that all 268 of the organization’s district offices around the nation, would host the exercise.
However, the decision by the Electoral Commission (EC) to limit the next voter registration drive to its district offices, angered some political parties in the nation. The political parties claimed that such a move would deny the right to vote to many Ghanaians who are of voting age.
The parties prefer that the commission holds the exercise at the electoral zones. As a result, the political parties have vowed to keep talking about it, until the EC registers every eligible Ghanaian who is of voting age.
Goaso Chief Warns Jean Mensa
The Electoral Commission’s (EC) recent decision to limit the conduct of the limited voter registration exercise to its district offices, has also drawn harsh criticism from Nana Akwasi Bosompra I, the paramount chief of the Goaso Traditional Area in the Ahafo region.
Nana Akwasi Bosompra I asserted that this choice could disenfranchise a sizable portion of Ghanaians who live in locations remote from the district headquarters.
He became anxious of the fact that many eligible voters might not have the resources to transport from their villages to the EC’s district offices to register and vote.
“What is Jean Mensa doing? Has she been to Ahafo before? Does she know the town that follows Esumira? Does she know the town after Kasapin? So, is Jean Mensa saying that all these people, if they want to write their names, they should have three people and travel to Goaso? Is she going to pay for their fare?
“She should be careful not to bring any confusion into this country because of a woman’s decision. I’m pleading with her, she should change that rule and decentralize the process. Because a rich person can bus people to register and vote for him but that person is someone we may not even like.”
Nana Akwasi Bosompra I
Moreover, Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC’s) Director of legal affairs, announced that the party’s Legal Directorate would consider looking into legal options to contest the validity of the Electoral Commission’s decision to hold the upcoming limited voter registration at its district offices. The NDC contends that the majority of the new voters will lose their voting rights, if the EC is permitted to carry out its intentions.
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