‘It’s a lie’ – EC denies removing NDC’s supporters names from register

The Electoral Commission of Ghana has denied allegations that it has deliberately removed some names of National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters from the provisional voters’ register.

The major opposition party in Ghana has not been happy with the development, forcing its flagbearer John Mahama to suspend his national campaign to address the issue.

Mr. Mahama has expressed dissatisfaction over how the EC leadership is handling concerns being raised by political parties in the lead up to the general polls in December.

“Your incompetence is legendary. There is so much chaos and disorder and it has a potential to create chaos in this country. We are not confident in the process that is going on. There is too much anarchy and disorder,” the former president said before suspending his campaign in the Bono Region.

However, in a sharp response, the electoral management body said the NDC’s allegations are “false.”

“We assure the General Public that these allegations are unfounded. For the information of the Public, the Exhibition of the Provisional Voters Register has been provided for in the Law (CI 91). The Law, recognising that a registration process is not full proof, has provided a mechanism called “Exhibition” to allow citizens to verify their details to ensure that they are captured in the register or that their details such as sex, age, name etc. are accurate. The Exhibition also affords Voters the opportunity to correct any errors detected. Additionally, the Law provides for “inclusion” to allow persons who registered but whose names are not on the register, to file to be included in the register. This process is not new and has always formed part of our processes,” the commission said in a statement.

Below is the full statement:

ALLEGATIONS REGARDING THE REMOVAL OF NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS (NDC) SUPPORTERS FROM THE VOTERS REGISTER ARE UNFOUNDED

Our attention has been drawn to statements in the media by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its Flagbearer to the effect that the Electoral Commission is carrying out an agenda to remove the names of its supporters and sympathisers from the Voters Register.

This allegation is false.

The Commission has, from the beginning of the compilation of the Voters Register, lived up to its motto: Fairness, Transparency and Accountability. Indeed, at every point, we have provided factual, accurate and evidence based information to our Stakeholders on voter statistics per region, district, gender, age among others.

To date, every interested Ghanaian has information on the number of persons who registered in the just concluded Voter Registration Exercise based on the information we provided. It is a paradox, therefore, to suggest that the same Commission now seeks to remove persons from the Voters Register. Had that been the agenda of the Commission, it would not have given detailed information to Stakeholders throughout the Registration process.

We assure the General Public that these allegations are unfounded. For the information of the Public, the Exhibition of the Provisional Voters Register has been provided for in the Law (CI 91).

The Law, recognising that a registration process is not full proof, has provided a mechanism called “Exhibition” to allow citizens to verify their details to ensure that they are captured in the register or that their details such as sex, age, name etc. are accurate. The Exhibition also affords Voters the opportunity to correct any errors detected.

Additionally, the Law provides for “inclusion” to allow persons who registered but whose names are not on the register, to file to be included in the register.

This process is not new and has always formed part of our processes. In a nutshell, the Exhibition Exercise provides an opportunity to Stakeholders to unearth problems with the Register for the purpose of fixing it.

This is exactly what the Electoral Commission is doing. We are fixing the issues unearthed. We assure the Public that the Commission is working to ensure that the margin of error with the Voters Register is negligible.

We are confident that at the end of the process, we will bequeath the nation with a Register that reflects truth and integrity, a Register that is credible and comprises eligible Ghanaians only. May God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong.

Let Peace Reign.

Source: Daily Mail GH