The opposition National Democratic Congress is alleging that the Electoral Commission is scheming to disenfranchise eligible voters in the upcoming limited voter registration exercise.
According to the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the uncertainty surrounding the actual polling centres and equipment supports the party’s claim.
Speaking to Citi News on Friday, Asiedu Nketia said the Commission is yet to meet the legal framework for the exercise.
“Have we gone into war. Was there any epidemic that has killed many Ghanaians such that our procreation rate has declined so much that between two years of 2012 and 2014, 1 million entered the 18-year bracket. Between 2014 and 2016, 1.2 million entered that bracket.”
“And you are now moving from 2016 not to 2018 but to 2019, that is three year period and you are projecting that the figure that entered into that 18 age bracket will be 500,000. What kind of calculation is that? It is our opinion that the Electoral Commission is taking a conscious decision to suppress the voting rights of about 1 million Ghanaians.”
The Commission plans to compile new voters register for the next presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana.
The exercise is expected to take place at the district level.
The NDC, however, insists that the EC must decentralize the exercise up to the electoral area levels instead of the 260 districts offices.
Mr. Nketia had early on said, “evidence available shows that it is a system that will end up disenfranchising many qualified potential voters.”
He also raised concerns about the possible lack of resources at some of the newly created districts.
