<<Print>>A Senior Programmes Officer at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Nana Kwabena Abrampah Mensah has said there will be no need for a new voters’ register if the necessary mechanisms are not put in place to ensure that a new one withstand the test of time.
He said the sharing of opinions and deliberations as being shown now will help the Electoral Commission and all stakeholders to sieve the pros and cons to inform their final decisions.
He added that the discourse helps Civil Society Organizations as well to share ideas about the funding and other relevant issues for any new voter’s register.
Recalling the stance of the CDD and CODEO in 2015 at the Justice V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe Commission set up by the former EC Boss, Charlotte Osei, he said the Centre still stand by its suggestions.
“The CDD’s argument is simple; what will inform a new voters’ register? What shock absorbers will be put in place to ensure that after compiling a new voters’ register, we won’t be compiling a new one after just a year?” he sought to know.
According to him if they are able to conclude that the register is bloated and machines are obsolete then there will be a need for a new voters’ register.
“Whether we compile a new voters’ register or not what are the mechanisms to make sure a new one will withstand time, otherwise I don’t think there is a need for a new voters’ register," he added in an interview with Neat FM.
The credibility of the voters' register was pushed into the forefront of national political discussions by the then opposition NPP aided by pro-NPP pressure group Let My Vote Count Alliance.
Background
After some partisan pressure led by the then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Electoral Commission announced the setting up of the five-man panel on 23rd October 2015 to hold a two-day public hearing on the controversial Voters’ Register.
His Lordship Professor V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe chaired the committee that also included the Most Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante; Dr. Grace Bediako, Dr. Nii Narku Quaynor; and Maulvi Bin Salih.
2 Parties, Former Presidential Candidate Support EC
Two political parties — the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) and the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) — and a former independent presidential candidate, Jacob Osei Yeboah (JOY), have backed the decision by the Electoral Commission (EC) to compile a new voters’ register.
The PPP said the EC could not be denied the appropriate tools it genuinely needed to do a credible job, while the LPG said peace was priceless, hence the need for Ghanaians to rally behind the EC to compile a new biometric voters register.
Mr Yeboah also called on all Ghanaians to support the acquisition of a biometric voter management system (BVMS) for the 2020 elections.
Listen to interview below