The Electoral Commission (EC) is expected to commence the compilation of a new voters’ register across the country tomorrow towards the 2020 general election and beyond after receiving the greenline from Supreme Court.
EC’s Chairperson Mrs Jean Mensa is scheduled to address the nation in the evening today ahead of the mass registration.
The registration exercise will end on August 6, 2020, according to a statement issued by the Commission late Thursday afternoon.
“The Commission entreats all stakeholders to hold themselves in readiness for the Voters Registration Exercise”, the statement signed by Mrs. Sylvia Annoh, Ag Director of Public Affairs, said.
The latest announcement by the EC followed the Supreme Court’s clearance on Thursday for the Commission to proceed with the exercise in accordance with Constitutional Instrument 126 (CI 126), which approves the Ghana Card (issued by the National Identification Authority) and Ghanaian Passports as the only legal documents a registrant may provide to qualify for registration.
A final option is for would be registrants to be vouched for by two registered voters.
In endorsing the Supreme Court’s ruling, the EC said it is a Commission, which believes in the sanctity of the law, and thus respects the decision of the court, quoting the Supreme Court.
“The Electoral Commission in exercising their discretion in the discharge of their constitutional mandate in cleaning the voters Register should be deemed as authorised to be acting within the law and the regulations therein, and cannot be faulted even if it is considered that there is a more efficient mode or method available.”
Training of officers
Ahead of the mass voter registration exercise, the EC held a nationwide training exercise for 42,025 registration officials to equip them with the requisite skills and knowledge desired for the exercise.
The EC’s regional directors and their deputies, as well as regional supervisors, deputy registration supervisors, district electoral officers and assistant electoral officers, all benefited from the exercise.
The exercise involved training for data entry clerks, laminators and those to be directly involved in the use of biometric voter registration (BVR) kits at the grass roots.
The officials were also taken through the registration procedure, which will cover eligibility criteria, challenge procedures and the vouching process.
Pilot registration
Prior to tomorrow’s mass registration, the EC conducted a two-day pilot registration exercise at all its regional offices to test the BVR kits, assess the protocols put in place, among other things.
Representatives of political parties were in attendance to observe the processes.
