The Electoral Commission (EC) has announced that it will release the provisional voter register for the December 7 general elections to political parties on Friday, August 16.
This comes after the National Democratic Congress (NDC) demanded the immediate release of the provisional register. Dr. Omane Boamah, the NDC’s Director of Elections, criticized the delay, attributing it to what he described as the EC’s incompetence and a deliberate attempt to provide a sub-standard register to political parties.
Boamah expressed concerns that the delay could lead to serious consequences, warning that the NDC and other stakeholders are “deeply concerned that the posturing and incompetence of the EC and its IT Department can plunge Ghana into anarchy if not remedied immediately.”
However, Dr. Serebuor Quaicoe, the EC’s Director of Training, clarified on Eyewitness News that the EC is legally required to compile the provisional register within 90 days after the data collection from the registration process.
“If you look at regulation 22 of the C1 91, they say that the commission has 90 days to compile the provisional register after gathering the data or doing the registration and we all know that technically we’ve seen the data gathering which was on the 3rd.”
“…Initially we had not planned to do the mop-up. But once we decide to do the mop-up, it means that we have to complete the compilation before we can give the list out and as I said, as far as the law is concerned, we have 90 days after compilation.
“So, we are within the law, but we told them we are going to give it to them, and we wrote to them again that they will have it today, but we couldn’t complete so we said that Friday, God willing, they will have it so we will give it to them on Friday,” he stated.
Source:citinewsroom.com