The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said it will resist attempts by the Electoral Commission (EC) to conduct the upcoming limited voters’ registration exercise at the district offices of the commission.
According to the NDC, the move was not part of the issues upheld during the last Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held in March.
Addressing the media, the General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketia said the NDC “differed very strongly” on the matter and is “opposed to any system of registration that will be limited to the district offices of the EC.”
“The parties never agreed with the Electoral Commission to limit the limited registration [exercise] to only district centres of the commission.”
The party insists that the EC must stick to the decentralisation of the exercise up to the electoral area levels instead of the 260 districts offices.
In addition, he said, “evidence available shows that it is a system that will end up disenfranchising many qualified potential voters.”
Mr. Aseidu Nketia also raised concerns about the possible lack of resources at some of the newly created districts.
“These new districts don’t even have the equipment so what will happen is that if we allow the proposal to stay, it will mean that people within the new districts will also move to the parent district in order to get their names registered.”
He noted that some residents will have to travel almost 100 kilometres to their district capitals to partake in the exercise.
He also cited struggles residents of Bole, for example, may encounter because it is under a curfew.
The Commission plans to compile new voters register for the next presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana after an agreement with the various political parties.
But the NDC also denied that there was an agreement to compile new voters register for the next general elections.
