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We will disrupt registration exercise - Inter-Party Resistance against New Voters Register

The Inter-Party Resistance Against the New Voters Register (IPRAN), made up of six political parties, including the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has served notice that it will disrupt the activities of the Electoral Commission (EC) if it goes ahead to compile a new voters' register for the 2020 general elections.

Bernard Mornah

The General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu, has hinted that the new voters' register will start at the end of June to July ahead of the 2020 presidential and parliamentary polls.

He said the EC and other political parties agreed on using a passport and Ghana card for registration.

He made this known after an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting with political parties over the compilation of a new voters' register.

"From this meeting, they've said that by the end of June, it is likely for us to start the registration exercise. They’ve slated it for the end of June and very soon per the law 21 days to any national exercise they need to inform us. So the specific date in June will be given to us later.

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"Which means that it will take almost 40 days so they will be finishing by the end of July as well. Just as you know, the registration will be divided into clusters, five clusters per phase, and each phase will take six days and they will use one day to mobilise and move their materials from one phase to the other," he stated, adding that safety measures were given by the EC to help contain coronavirus during the compilation of the voters' register," he said.

Spokesperson of the group against the new voters' register, Bernard Mornah, addressing the press described as disappointing the EC's move to amend C.I 91 Section 1(3), to exclude the current voter ID card as part of the primary identification documents required by an eligible voter to go through with registration ahead of the December polls.

He said, "It is disappointing and disheartening to note that that was the first time political parties in the Resistance had heard about this blatant attempt at political bigotry by the EC to exclude close to about 10 million eligible voters from registering to vote in this year's general elections."

"We have heard some of the misleading and deceptive claims from the EC, ostensibly arguing that the exclusion of the existing voter ID card, was driven by a 'school of thought' that some foreigners may be carrying the voter ID card and some others who registered in 2012 with NHIS Card may still be on the register.

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"This argument is preposterous and repulsive, to say the least as the so-called reliable identification documents (Ghana Card and Passport) are also fraught with the same allegation of foreigners' infiltration and in some instances, foreigners possessing same have been arrested as reported," he added.

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