The Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Bossman Eric Asare, has disclosed that the State has commenced the prosecution of non-Ghanaians who attempted registering for the voter’s ID card.
He further noted that individuals and persons found culpable of guaranteeing for non-eligible persons are also being prosecuted.
Dr. Asare entreated Ghanaians to be cautious of persons they guarantee for and ensure that only persons known by them should be guaranteed for, as a score of non-Ghanaians are currently facing prosecution while one, a Nigerian has also been jailed for attempting to register for the voter’s ID card.
“Guarantors must make sure that they know the nationalities of the applicants they are guaranteeing for. It is a crime to guarantee for foreigners to register and vote. If the commission establishes that they are not Ghanaians and you guarantee for them, you are liable for prosecution”.
“Foreigners caught trying to register will be prosecuted. An example is a Nigerian who was arrested and sentenced on Wednesday, July 29, by the Kaneshie District court to 6 months imprisonment with hard labour for attempting to register. There are two individuals who guaranteed for him, the police are looking for them”.
Additionally, the deputy chairman said that some Nigeriens have also made their first court appearance for attempting to register for the card.
Duplication of names
Dr. Asare noted that persons found to be engaged in multiple registrations will have their names expunged from the voters’ register.
“This registration is an offline registration as such, those applicants who have registered more than ones will be identified through the de-duplication process. Those who have registered more than ones will have their names expunged from the register of voters ones they have been identified as having registered double of multiple times…We are urging those who have already registered not to go to the registration centre again because our system will identify you”.
Voter’s registration exercise so far
Regardless of some teething problems encountered by the commission in its early days of registering Ghanaians, the Electoral Commission has described the exercise so far a “successful”.
As at Monday, August 3, 2020, about 15,108,687 applicants had successfully registered according to the EC.
The EC was targeting the registration of 15 million citizens at the end of the exercise.
Before this new registration exercise, there was a total of 16,845,439 voters on the register. The exercise is expected to end on Thursday, August 6, 2020.
