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NDC drags EC to court over voter's register

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has sued the Electoral Commission (EC) for failing to provide the party with a provisional copy of the voters register to guide it in the ongoing voters register exhibition exercise ending Friday, September 20, 2019.

Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, NDC National Chairman

According to the party, it decided to take the EC to court because it had failed after incessant requests from the party to do so.

The National Chairman of the NDC, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, addressing the media at a press conference said: "In the circumstance, we have been compelled to go to court to seek an order directed at the EC, to among others, give us copies of the register as required by law."

He criticised the EC over the failure of the election management body to provide them with a copy of the provisional voter roll being used for the ongoing exhibition exercise which ends on Friday, 20 September 2019.

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He said the EC has breached section 22 of the Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) 91 adding that the party has detected attempts by the leadership of the EC to deny it the very essential document which will be used to determine the outcome of the general and parliamentary elections in 2020, hence the decision of its legal team to settle the issue in court.

Meanwhile, the EC has responded to the NDC and refuted allegations of a breach of regulations leveled by the party.

The EC said: "it believes that the allegations were calculated and targeted at creating an erroneous impression about the EC and causing disaffection between its leadership and the general public."

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The acting Director of the EC, Sylvia Annoh, in a statement, said "The EC makes it clear that (Article 22(1) of the C.I. 91) mandates the EC to provide a copy of the provisional register to political parties no later than three months of the end of the registration exercise. For the information of the general public, the voter's registration exercise took place from 17th June - 7th July. This means the EC has until the end of September to submit the provisional register to the NDC. This will be done before then".

She added: "Like all other political parties, the EC would have expected the NDC to use dialogue channels open and available or other established lines of communication to address their concerns. Unfortunately, the NDC continues to use the medium of the media to raise concerns which can easily be resolved after deliberations with the Electoral Commission".

The EC further noted that the essence of the exhibition exercise is to allow all registered voters to check and verify their names and particulars, to make corrections, to mistakes on their details.

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