Support effort to get a credible voter’s register – EC says as it warns parties to stop registering minors

 

A Deputy Commissioner of the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana, Dr Eric Bossman Asare has told the Police to punish all persons who have been arrested for registering minors onto the electoral roll. The EC said that it continues to receive reports of minors being registered in the Limited Voter Registration exercise.

 

 The exercise, which started on May 7, will end on May 27, 2024.Briefing journalists on the ongoing limited voter registration exercise on Monday May 13, 2024, Dr Bosaman Asare said”We continue to receive reports that minors and non-Ghanaians are being encouraged by certain persons who are members of political parties to register as voters. 

 

The Commission has seen a report from the Western Region specifically in Mpohor where some two persons who allegedly facilitated the registration of five minors have been apprehended by the Police. We wish to use this opportunity to urge parents especially to dissuade their children who are less than 18 years from registering as voters. “Similarly, we beseech the national leadership of the political parties to discourage their executives in the regions and the constituencies from transporting minors and foreigners to the registration centers. The objective of the Commission as always has been to have a credible register for the 2024 elections. 

 

 “We believe the political parties, as the main stakeholders in the general elections, must be dedicated to supporting a credible register as well. Consequently, we find attempts by parties to support the registration of minors and foreigners as completely unacceptable and aimed at undermining the country’s electoral democracy. We urge the Police to apply the laws on those who have been apprehended to serve as a deterrent to others in the enterprise of facilitating the registration of minors and foreigners.“We want to urge the children who are not 18 years that it is against the law for them to register as voters. Children, don’t allow anyone to tell you to go and register and vote in the December 2024 elections if you are not 18 years.” 

 Please read his full speech below:Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of the Media. The Electoral Commission (EC) expresses its appreciation to the Almighty God for His grace and mercies,and for the gift of life which has made it possible for the Commission to be able toundertake its activities. We also thank you the Media personnel and your organizations for alwayssupporting the Commission to send its messages across to the people of this country and beyond. The Commission is also pleased with the work of our officials both permanent and temporary in the regions and the districts who implement thedecisions of the Commission. 

 As a leading Election Management Body in sub-Saharan Africa and certainly beyond because of our many years of meeting global benchmarks in elections management, we are committed to always ensuring that our processes promote the collective good of the country’s democracy. Indeed, our motto – Transparency,Fairness and Integrity-has been guiding all the activities we undertake including matters that have indirect bearing on elections such as in procurement and auctioning of obsolete items. The 2024 Voters Registration Exercise began on Tuesday, the 7th of May at all the 268 District Offices of the Commission, selected Electoral Areas and some Public universities. 

 The Commission again regrets the technical challenges that registrants encountered

in the first two days of the Registration Exercise. As a Commission we did what we had to do by putting measures in place to ensure a smooth registration experience for our compatriots who have just turned 18 since the last registration exercise and those who for one reason or the other have not been able to register as Voters.We wish to use this opportunity to tell the political parties and Ghanaians in general that the technical challenges we had have been resolved, and the Commission believes anyone who wants to register as a voter should be able to do so in his/her district. 

 The Commission welcomes constructive criticisms from the political parties and Civil Society Organizations that will go long way to strengthen its work. Offline RegistrationFollowing the reports that came to the attention of the Commission on the second day of the registration exercise, we took the decision to direct our staff to switch to the Offline Registration mode to ensure all applicants in the queues get the opportunity to register.

As a Commission we prefer the Online Registration to the Offline version because the Online system ensures that those who have registered as voters do not get the chance to register again. 

The Online system prevents double registration. However, with the Offline Registration, because the data is transferred after the registration you can have instances where registered voters go to registration centers to register again. At times, too, because people have lost their voter cards or they have forgotten where they registered as voters or have relocated they try to register again. In these instances our system will later identify their registrations as double thus making them ineligible to vote in the elections. 

 We want to use this Let The Citizen Know platform to urge all those who registered either in the 2020 Mass Registration Exercise or the 2023 Limited Registration Exercise not to attempt to register again as voters. Such persons will not be able to vote in the 2024 General Elections. 

 Discrimination 

The Commission has no intention of favoring any particular regions, constituencies or zones in this Registration Exercise. All such commentaries implying that  

The commission has sent bad equipment to certain parts of the country or frustrating the registration exercise in some regions or constituencies, are championed by persons who are completely ignorant of the processes of the Electoral Commissionor are by persons who deliberately want to undermine the reputation and the recognition the EC enjoys in the eyes of those who understand our processes.

The Commission understands that the right to register as a voter is a fundamental

political right that must be protected for all Ghanaians who are at least 18 years old and meet the requirements for registration. Consequently, it’s unfortunate that some will accuse the Commission of discriminating against a section of Ghanaians in the registration exercise. 

 We wish to use this medium to again assure all Ghanaians that the Commission iscommitted to ensuring that all qualified persons get onto the Voters Register and vote in the December 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. It is in our interest to do so and we take pride in the high percentage of the population who are registered voters.

Minors and Non-GhanaiansWe continue to receive reports that minors and non-Ghanaians are being encouraged by certain persons who are members of political parties to register as voters. 

The Commission has seen a report from the Western Region specifically in Mpohor where some two persons who allegedly facilitated the registration of five minors have been apprehended by the Police. We wish to use this opportunity to urge parents especially to dissuade their children who are less than 18 years from registering as voters.

Similarly, we beseech the national leadership of the political parties to discourage their executives in the regions and the constituencies from transporting minors and foreigners to the registration centers. The objective of the Commission as alwayshas been to have a credible register for the 2024 elections. We believe the political parties, as the main stakeholders in the general elections, must be dedicated to supporting a credible register as well. Consequently, we find attempts by parties to support the registration of minors and foreigners as completely unacceptable and aimed at undermining the country’s electoral democracy. 

We urge the Police to apply the laws on those who have been apprehended to serve as a deterrent to others in the enterprise of facilitating the registration of minors and foreigners. We want to urge the children who are not 18 years that it is against the law for them to register as voters. Children, don’t allow anyone to tell you to go and register and vote inthe December 2024 elections if you are not 18 years. 

 We have noticed the disturbances occurring at some of the registration centers is due to the fact that some people are doubting ages of some of the applicants. This is the reason why the Commission has been advocating for the usage of the Ghana Card which has the date of birth and the nationality of the bearers of the Card, and the abolition of the Guarantor system.

 We are hopeful that in the next registration

exercise applicants will use their Ghana Card as the means of identification. Let me use this medium to remind the Agents of the Political Parties and the General Public that the Challenge system embedded in the registration exerciseallows the Agents and those who qualify to register as voters to challenge applicants who they believe are not qualified to register as voters.

 Regional Breakdown of the Registration

 At the end of Day Six of the Registration Exercise, the following are the figures for each region:

 Females and Males Registration A pattern that has become a regular feature of this registration exercise in the first

six days is that nationally more females are registering than males. Of the 251,149 registered voters females constitute 135,898 which is 54.11% and males are 115,251 which is 45.89%. 

 First Time Voters First time Voters (those between the ages of 18 and 21) constitute the majority of

registered voters in all the 16 regions. Nationally, they represent 88.02% (that is 221,066) of the total number of registered voters so far.

Persons with Disabilities

 At the end of Day Six we have registered 382 persons with disabilities. These are the regional distribution of the registration of PWDs:

 Forms of Identification The Guarantor system continues to dominate the forms of identification used in the 2024 Registration Exercise as in the 2023 Exercise. 

This is something the Commission is not proud of because it is used by political parties and certain persons to facilitate the registration of unqualified persons such as minors and foreigners. The current confusion at some of the registration centers is attributable to the Guarantor system. The table below shows the total figures and the percentages of the forms of identification for the first five days of the Registration Exercise. 

 Ghana Card 98,926 – 39.39% Passport 622 – 0.25%Guarantors 151,601 – 60.36% Challenged Cases The challenged cases for the first six days of the exercise appear to be evenly distributed although the numbers are high in some regions and low as well in other regions. 

In nominal terms the Greater Accra region has the highest with 524, and the North East has the lowest with 9. As a percentage of the total registered in each region the Volta region has the highest with 4.29% and the North East has 0.13%  being the lowest. The following are the challenged cases in each region.

 Conclusion 

 In conclusion, the Commission wishes to thank the media for their regular updates on the registration exercise. 

We know some of the media houses have focused on only the challenges but a number of you have been highlighting the success of the exercise. We plead with you to use your platforms to speak against the attempts by

political parties and certain individuals to register minors and non-Ghanaians. May the Good Lord continue to bless this country and its people in great ways.being the lowest. The following are the challenged cases in each region.