The Commission said eligible prison inmates would be registered during the mop-up registration exercise scheduled for August 1 to August 3, 2024, in all district offices of the Commission.

The Commission announced this at a media briefing after meeting the National Peace Council in Accra on Wednesday.

The meeting formed part of the EC’s engagements with key stakeholders ahead of the 2024 polls to inform them about the election calendar and solicit their input to ensure credible, free, fair, and transparent elections.

The meeting, which was held behind closed doors, discussed measures to foster peace and harmony among political actors, the citizenry, institutions, and other stakeholders before, during, and after the elections.

The Peace Council asked the EC to build trust among the political parties, and the public, and to continuously engage relevant stakeholders in its operations to avoid doubts and promote transparency and accountability.

Mrs Jean Mensa, Chairperson, EC, said the Commission was committed to delivering transparent, free, and credible elections, hence its decision to engage the Peace Council.

“We have had useful deliberations. The purpose was to brief the Council, receive feedback, and address some of the concerns that you have.

“We are going away with some useful nuggets that we believe will strengthen our work,” she said.

Mrs Mensa reiterated the commitment of the Commission to make the necessary arrangements for the people of Guan Constituency to participate in the upcoming elections.

She also affirmed that the Commission would not introduce any new Constitutional Instrument to govern the December 7, polls and added that the indelible ink would be used during the exercise.

Touching on the registration of prison inmates, the EC Chairperson said the Commission was securing data from the Prisons Service to guide its arrangements.

Reverend Dr Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, the Chairman of the National Peace Council, said the meeting discussed, among other issues, trust building between the EC, political parties and the public, and the need to continuously explain issues to all stakeholders.

“It’s been a very fruitful meeting,” he said, and expressed delight that the people of the Guan Constituency would be participating in the upcoming elections.

The EC conducted a voters’ registration exercise from May 7 to May 29, 2024, and proceeded with a nationwide exercise to replace missing voter ID cards from May 30, 2024. It has also completed the voter transfer exercise.

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He said that just as was done in Ghana’s legal circles, where a suspect or an accused is deemed innocent until proven otherwise, persons who challenged the eligibility of applicants must be ready to prove why applicants must not be given their Voter ID cards to participate in the upcoming December polls.

Mr Kwetey made the call Wednesday when he briefly called on the District Registration Review Committee (DRCC) sitting on cases of challenged applicants in the Ketu South Municipality as part of his monitoring visit to some eight constituencies in the Volta Region.

The former Ketu South Member of Parliament said in cases where challengers involved in the cases could not show up on the appointed dates due to one reason or another, it should not affect the challenged applicants in any as that had the potential to deprive them of their right to vote.

“Innocent people should not be made to suffer for the inability of a challenger to be present on the day a challenged applicant is appearing before your committee because the challenger has the responsibility to provide reasons for questioning the eligibility of the affected applicant. I therefore appeal to you to be minded by the principle of innocent until proven guilty in your work.”

Torgbui Anubo IV, Chairman of the DRCC, allayed fears of making affected applicants suffer any injustice, saying during the six sittings the Committee had had, no such thing happened, assuring that when necessary, colleague party agents of such challengers were consulted to find ways to deal with the case without inconveniencing or disadvantaging the challenged applicants.

On the tour with Mr Fifi Fiafi Kwetey were executives of the Volta Regional NDC led by Mr Egypt Korbla Kudoto, the Regional Vice Chairman.

Mr James Gunu, the Regional Secretary in an interview with Ghana News Agency (GNA) said the number of challenged applicants in the Ketu South Constituency was huge and it was important for the Committee to double its efforts to give opportunity to all affected applicants to disprove or otherwise, the allegations against them.

The nationwide exercise was initially scheduled from May 07 to 27 at the district office and some hard-to-reach areas in the municipality, but it had been extended for two additional days to make up for the technical glitches experienced across the country on the first and second days.

Ketu South registered a total of 5,273 applicants out of which some 1,602 applicants had their eligibility challenged.

So far, about 300 of all the applicants challenged in the constituency have had their cards  released to them while some 25 had theirs retained after seven sittings by the close of the day Wednesday.

Mr Kofi Sakyi Boampong, the District Electoral Commission Officer for Ketu South, told GNA that the Committee would continue to sit until the challenged cases were over assuring every challenged applicant would be given a fair chance.

The conference, scheduled for 2:00 pm today at the NDC Headquarters in Adabraka, will be led by Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the National Chairman of the party.

The statement says the NDC is worried over the restricted scope of the voter registration exercise, emphasizing the need for transparency and fairness in the electoral process.

It continues that, the exercise is set to encompass only a portion of potential voters, hence the party seeks to highlight potential issues and discrepancies that may arise.

“All media houses are invited to attend and participate in this crucial discussion,” stated the NDC in its invitation to the press.

The limited voter registration exercise has been a subject of contention in recent weeks, with various political parties and civil society groups expressing concerns over its fairness and inclusivity.

Meanwhile, some individuals have been arrested for double registration, with others brawling over the nationwide exercise.

The students have been granted three days off from campus, effective Friday, September 22, to Sunday, September 24, 2023.

The decision, according to GES, is in line with the constitutional right of all Ghanaian citizens to exercise their franchise.

In light of this, GES in a statement, has directed Regional Directors of Education to communicate the information to all Heads of Second Cycle Institutions within their jurisdiction.

The Electoral Commission (EC) on Tuesday, September 12 commenced the 21-day exercise expected to end on October 2, at all 268 district offices.

The registration exercise is to afford Ghanaians who have attained the age of 18 since the last registration in 2020 and others who were more than 18 years old but for various reasons could not register.

EC announced on September 18 that it had registered a total of 182,831 voters in the first six days of the limited voter registration exercise being conducted across the country.

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At the centre, Dr Bawumia interacted with registration officials and residents, enquiring about how the process had been going.

A member of the registration team briefed the Vice President on the process and indicated that the numbers were encouraging and the process had been devoid of any issues.

After his interactions with the registration officers, Dr. Bawumia exchanged pleasantries with some of the people at the centre.

Both the registration officials and some of the people present requested pictures with Dr. Bawumia, which he obliged.

The Electoral Commission opened a limited registration exercise last week to enable Ghanaians who have turned 18 to register, as well as to allow those who have lost their voter identity card to replace them.

The Electoral Commission (EC) has gone ahead with its decision to restrict the registration exercise to its district offices only despite fierce opposition from some political Parties, and this is affecting patronage in the Constituency, which is vast and split by the Volta River. 

During a media tour of the Constituency with the Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) experienced the difficulties many seeking to be registered face. 

For many in the hundreds of communities several kilometres away from Bator Aveyime where the EC district office is located, a round trip would cost as high as GHC 300, and thus moving with two guarantors made it an unthinkable investment. 

Those eligible in communities such as Salaga, which shares border with Ho West District, would have to pay GH¢150 for a motorbike to Juapong before proceeding to Bator. 

An average of GH¢40 is charged for a motorbike ride from even some of the closest communities, such as Deve, Avorkpoe, Ayram, Avedotoe, and Workpui. 

“I will have to sell 10 bags of maize for my 10 children to go and register. And so, I said they will not go,” a grain seller at Juapong market declared. 

Juapong lies on the Eastern Corridor, more than 50 km away from the EC office, and is one of the Region’s oldest and vibrant industrial communities. 

Youth in the town said they had been discouraged by the cost of transportation, while the plight of the aged, and the sick were also tabled to buttress the need to provide a registration center there. 

One man said his wife had spent three days registering for her Ghana card, and that the experience discouraged them from voter registration. 

There were concerns over the spillage of dams up north, which could raise the risk levels in crossing the Volta River to access the registration center. 

Those who do not want to risk the river have to go through Sogakope at an even heavier cost to the mostly rural communities. 

“We are not going there because of the River Volta. People die in the river and so if the EC is not coming here, we are also not going there. Then no vote,” many echoed. 

The MP who was visiting communities in the Constituency to assess their challenges with the exercise, stopped at the Kpong Dam, expressed concern that several communities made sacrifices for its construction, and did not deserve to be left out of a national participatory exercise. 

“People of this area sacrificed for this dam. Most are yet to receive compensation and are living in squalid conditions. We are all citizens. We have contributed to the forward march of our country. A right is not a privilege”. 

Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa would proceed to cross the river to the EC office, where only 250 had been captured in the three days since the registration began, and network challenges were blamed in addition to the accessibility issues. 

The centre had to be closed ahead of the 1700 hours due to the network slump, and a woman lamented how she had to board four different vehicles to get there. 

Mr Ablakwa said the situation was nationwide and could breed gerrymandering and the influx of strangers onto the electoral roll in the area. 

The MP noted also that the exercise was the first in two years, so, the eligible population required a more reaching approach. 

The limited registration exercise began on Tuesday, September 12, and would end on October 09, 2023. 

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According to him, those calling for the extension of the limited voters’ registration from the district offices to the electoral areas are only concerned about increasing the number of new registrants and not the sanctity of the register.

He said the district offices are more equipped to ensure a clean register.

“For the media and the CSOs, your attention is register them, register them, register them, that is the focus of the media and the CSOs. And probably that may be the reason why you’re quoting my chair, at that time she was a CSO. But when you come into the kitchen that is where you see that your responsibility changes.

“The thinking of the Commission is that it is to register people and also to protect the sanctity of the register. That is very, very important that nobody is talking about. You’re going to compile voters’ register that would be used to determine who leads Ghana in all fronts. What goes into the register should be something that should not bring about issues,” he said.

The Electoral Commission has faced serious backlash from political parties, civil society organisations and the general public for its insistence on carrying out the limited voters’ registration in the district offices only.

According to those opposing the EC’s actions, the inaccessibility of the district offices and the cost of transportation among others are some reasons why the exercise must be further decentralized to the electoral areas.

But Dr. Serebuor Quaicoe said the ongoing district registrations are geared towards the upcoming district level elections.

He explained that, while the ongoing registration will be limited to the district offices, next year, the commission will roll out another registration exercise that will be held in the electoral areas.

“We are revising the register to give those who have turned 18 years who want to take part in the district level election to get the opportunity to register  so that next year we can now go out fully with the continuous voters register” Dr. Quaicoe stated.

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He alleged that, it is rather ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) engaged in such acts, but turned around to accuse them wrongly.

“We have seen videos of NPP going around communities dishing out money to people who have now turned 18 years to register. Have you seen any video of anybody from NDC bussing people?” he asked.

But Mr. Opare Addo said there is nothing wrong if NDC decides to help prospective voters who are financially constraint with transportation to registration centers.

“When you are leaders of a community and your members ask for transportation to enable them go to the centers to register, I don’t think there is anything wrong with it,” he said.

Mr. Opare Addo also insisted that, the NDC will not waste its time attending the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meetings, where their opinions will not be accepted.

He cited the conduct of the EC Chairperson, Jean Mensa which forced them to opt out of IPAC.

“We have been told by Jean Mensa that IPAC cannot advise her on things we have to do. On many occasions, we have gone to PAC meetings and made some suggestions and Jean Mensa have been bold enough to tell us that she doesn’t need our suggestions. We don’t see the need to attend IPAC,” he said.

Opare Addo’s comments come amid allegations that both the NDC and the NPP are engaging in voter mobilization tactics, including bussing people to registration centres and offering financial incentives to prospective registrants.

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Hundreds of first time voters have been left stranded and frustrated in many registration centers due to faulty equipment and the slow pace of registration.

In the Northern Region, many eager eligible registrants have been queuing for days and in the Tamale metro center, only 72 people have been enrolled onto the register since Tuesday due to challenges with the equipment.

Some of the residents told JoyNews they have been to the centre since the commencement of the exercise and are yet to get the chance to have their names captured.

“This is our third day of coming here. It didn’t go well for us at all,” one resident complained.

But the Tamale EC Director, Bismark Nti says they have seen some level of improvement after new machines were delivered.

“The first two days we had serious challenges here. As for the first day it was terrible, we were able to register five people. As at now the keys are working very well.”

The situation is not different across the country.

The NDC have been accusing the EC of intentionally distributing faulty machines to their strongholds as a means of suppressing their votes in the upcoming 2024 general elections.

But in reaction to that the NPP Deputy General Secretary, Haruna Mohammed says the NDC should stop complaining since the problem is nationwide.

“They should stop whining and they should stop pointing their fingers at people here and there. Yes, we know that is the job of the opposition, but you must do that very responsibly. These are machines. Even the phones that they use sometimes disappoint them.

“These are machines that we constantly have to be working on. What we have to encourage is to make sure that the electoral commission put on standby their technicians to ensure these machines are resolves quickly as possible,” he said.

However, the NPP has also filed complaints to the Electoral Commission concerning the faulty machines.

“In some areas it has been very smooth, in other areas we have seen the slow pace of the machines that we are using for the registration for which the NPP as a party is worried with that particular pace. We have made official complaints to the Electoral commission,” the NPP Deputy General Secretary, Haruna Mohammed said.

Meanwhile, the electoral commission had earlier told JoyNews these challenges are normal and will be addressed before the registration process ends in October.

“If you compare the hiccups yesterday as compared to today you’d realise that the problem has gone down drastically. And it is normal, all the people that I spoke to I told them we’re doing this exercise for 21 days and basically the first three days you’d have the challenges and they’ll be addressed and by the time you’ll finish with the third day the system would have been smooth. So all that is happening is normal,” Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, Director of Electoral Services at the Electoral Commission, said.

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The exercise started at 0800 hours on Tuesday, with all required logistics provided, and all officials at post. 

Richard Asamoah and Edward Fosu-Nsowah, the Constituency Secretaries of the NPP and NDC, respectively, confirmed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Techiman in the Bono East Region, saying the arrangements made were being adhered to and everything was moving on smoothly.  

But, Mr Fosu-Nsowah said there were still some limitations, such as the size of the centre “which is too small to contain a large number of prospective voters,” saying it might thus be impossible to meet the deadline of 21 days. 

He expressed concern that as of 0900 hours, only 21 people had registered, indicating that was sending signals that the EC might not achieve the expected target on schedule.

In a related interview, Mr William Bamfo-Apori, the registration supervisor and acting Techiman South EC Officer expressed satisfaction with the comportment of the people and expressed optimism that the exercise would meet its target.  

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They resorted to early arrival after days of failing to complete registration.

The applicants have had to compete with political party agents who use stones and other objects seats in queuing for their prospective electorate.

It’s a few minutes past 3 AM, a little cold as the dawn light rains get heavier.

 The gates of the Electoral Commission’s office at Asokore Mampong remain closed. But in front of the office are stones and chairs lined up.

 Each stone represents an applicant, the bench stands in for three or more people.

With time, some people who came in attempted to form another human queue, but this would not be accepted by those who had kept awake with the stones and chairs in the queue.

A branch women’s organizer for the NDC in Asawase Constituency, Seida Alhassan, who was in the middle of the misunderstanding, alleges, “I am a branch organizer for my political party. I am bringing my party members to register, which is why I came this early to queue for them. I could have slept in my house. I was here when you brought your children to queue, I even offered seats for them. How do you come and skip our queue here?”

Many are left frustrated after spending hours in queue since the beginning of the exercise.

Some applicants have queued for at least two days, yet have not been successful.

They plead for measures to be taken to ease their frustration.

“We have been quarreling since we got here at 4 am. I got the chance to register around 11 a.m. People are queuing with stones and benches. I have to find a way to jump the queue,” Mustapha Mohammed said.

Figures available to Joy News indicate the electoral commission is unable to meet the daily target of three hundred. About 80 applicants were registered on the first day.

Less than 300 applicants were successful in the second and third days of the exercise.

The number of applicants continues to rise, as efforts by interest groups to get the EC to increase the registration centres are yet to yield results.

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This is part of a tour of some centres in the Greater Accra region to inspect the ongoing limited voters’ registration exercise.

After the visit to the EC headquarters, the former President is expected to visit the Adentan, La and Tema district offices.

The exercise, which began on Tuesday, September 12, 2023, will end on October 2, 2023, at 268 district offices.

It has been met with resistance from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and four other political parties who are requesting the registration be done in the electoral areas.

Mr Mahama called on the EC to heed the calls to have the registration moved closer to the voters, noting that, it has the tendency to disenfranchise eligible voters.

Meanwhile, an injunction application filed against the exercise is yet to be heard in court.

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NDC Constituency Secretary, Razak Mubarak told Adom News that the constituency will continue to have low turnout because many people who are outside Kenyasi, where the exercise is being held, do not have transportation to visit the centre to register.

He indicated that, the NDC is unhappy with the decision by the EC to have the exercise only at the district office.

“If you look at the number that has to register and the number that is presently here, it tells you that the turnout is low, transportation is expensive, and by the time they move from their residence to the office, they would’ve spent about GH₵200. Where will an 18-year old get that kind of money?.

Their parents, who may be cocoa farmers, do not also have enough money because cocoa is not even in season for them to get money to give to their children for the registration,” he explained.

Razak Mubarak said 53 people had successfully registered on day one of the exercise.

Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for Asutifi North, Patrick Banor, who was at the centre to monitor proceedings, also said that, the turnout was not encouraging.

He used the opportunity to advise residents, especially those who qualify to register, not to wait for last minute as they normally do to bring chaos.

“We have just begun the process, but they will not show up, they will wait till it’s almost over, and then they will come in their numbers on the last day, which leads to chaos. I urge every eligible individual who is 18 and above to come and register and not wait to be called to avoid last-minute inconveniences,” he advised.

The limited voters’ registration exercise started on Tuesday, September 12, 2023.

The exercise will be conducted at all 268 EC district offices and is expected to end on Monday, October 2, 2023.

The EC has directed those eligible to visit the District Office where they reside with either their Ghana Card or their Ghana passport.

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His comments come after the EC commenced the limited voter registration exercise on September 12, 2023, despite an injunction application by some political parties against the process.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) and four other political parties have argued that the exercise at the district offices will disenfranchise a lot of young voters, particularly in the rural areas.

Commenting on the matter, Titus Glover chided the EC for ignoring concerns raised by stakeholders.

He urged the elections management body to put the right measures in place to ensure majority of young voters partake in the exercise.

To Titus-Glover, the ongoing limited voter registration is “totally out of place” and may affect the nation’s security.

“If there are issues that need to be worked on, I don’t see the need for the rush. Let’s make sure we correct all these challenges that the EC is having so that quickly when these issues are resolved, you (EC) can come up with a date and time to get the registration done,” he added.

The ongoing limited voter registration is targeted to register over 1.3 million persons who have turned 18.

The 21-day exercise is scheduled to end on October 2 at all of EC’s 268 district offices nationwide.

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This was contained in a statement issued by the EC on Monday, September 11,2023.

The EC in its statement stressed that, the registration will take place in all its 268 district offices.

“The Electoral Commission wishes to inform the General Public that the 2023 Voters Registration Exercise begins on Tuesday, 12th September 2023 and ends on Monday, 2nd October 2023.

“Persons who have attained the age of 18 years since the last registration exercise and those who for one reason or the other did not register in 2020, should visit the District Office where they reside with either their Ghana Card or their Ghana passport. Eligible applicants who do not possess any of the identification documents listed above are required to present two (2) persons who are already registered voters to guarantee their registration”.

Five political parties – NDC, the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the All People’s Congress, the Liberal Party of Ghana and the Great Consolidated Popular Party – filed the suit on September 7, challenging the EC’s decision to restrict the upcoming voter registration exercise to its district offices.

They argue that the decision will disenfranchise many eligible voters, especially those who live in remote areas.

The Supreme Court was expected to have scheduled a hearing for the application within a few days of its filing, but it has yet to do so.

The court was expected to have given a date for the application, but it’s yet to do so.

Former President John Dramani Mahama on Monday expressed anger over the Supreme Court’s delay in scheduling a hearing for an injunction application filed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and four other political parties against the Electoral Commission (EC) on the limited voter registration.

Mr Mahama in a Facebook post stated that “Contrary to the time-honoured practice of the Registrar of the Supreme Court giving dates for applications to be moved, the Registrar has, as of this afternoon, refused to give a date for the application for interlocutory injunction filed against the Electoral Commission (EC) in relation to the Commission’s decision to limit the upcoming voter registration exercise to its district offices only.

“The writ and the injunction application were duly filed at the Registry of the Supreme Court on Thursday, 7th September 2023, at 2:50 p.m.

“The Registrar informed the applicants’ representatives that they were awaiting the date to be given by the Chief Justice, who was outside the jurisdiction at the time. The Chief Justice returned and travelled to Cape Coast for the Bar Conference. As I write, the applicants’ representatives are still waiting at the registry of the Supreme Court”.

Mrs Patience Shebrah, Agona East District Electoral Officer, speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Nsaba, said a total of 3,072 people have so far registered and cards have been issued to them.

Protest forms were issued to challengers, mainly political party members, to fill and the complaints committee has fixed Monday July 1, to sit on the cases.

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The challengers have been asked to provide witnesses during the committee’s sitting to prove their claims that the people were indeed minors before their identity cards would be issued to them.

Mrs Shebrah said the EC has also made special arrangements to move to hard to reach areas and has created another center at Mankrong-Junction to enable people at Akwakwaa, Oketsew, Obratwaowu and other villages to register.

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The District Officer said the arrangements are that registration officials would spend three days at every registration center to enable people who cannot travel far to register without any hindrance.

Mrs Shebrah commended political party agents for their cooperation and resorting to dialogue to ensure that peace prevails.

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She expressed the hope that the political party agents would continue to assist the EC registration officials in the area to ensure that the registration exercise came to a successful conclusion.

Source: GNA