Africa-Press – Ghana. The Electoral Commission (EC) has commenced investigations into about 12,000 challenge cases recorded in the just-ended limited voter registration exercise.
According to the Director of Electoral Services at the EC, Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, the committee is mandated to establish whether or not these individuals are eligible to be on the electoral roll.
Also, based on provisional figures (747,715) as of the end of the 22nd day, according to Dr Quaicoe, the Commission has exceeded its target of registering 623,000 first-time voters.
“The target was 623,000 so we’ve gone above that by about 100,000 more,” he said in an interview on Thursday.
Responding to whether the Commission is impressed by exceeding its target, he stressed, “It’s not about being impressed on that but with the quality of the names.”
He added, “The parties themselves are fighting over the registration of minors, foreigners and the rest which means that we have a lot of work to do to clean the register.”
Touching on the challenge cases, the Director of Electoral Services noted that, “Now it’s around 12,000…they were challenged in the course of registration on grounds that they were not 18 years, they were not Ghanaians or they were not residing in the districts they were claiming to be in.”
“They have started sitting on them so we are hoping that probably by next week they should have finished. Even some of the districts may finish today or tomorrow.
“As and when they’re challenged, they’re adjudicated on and the irony of it is that it’s within the powers of the political parties themselves, they are part of the team and instantly they have to vote on whether to disqualify or not,” he said.
Meanwhile, the EC said it has gained the support of political parties to go ahead and lay a bill in Parliament to ensure that the Ghana national identification card, commonly known as the Ghana Card, will be the sole document of citizenship identification for registering new voters.
The Commission maintains that the Ghana Card will cure the old-age problem of registration of minors and foreigners, a position largely supported by the NPP.
For More News And Analysis About Ghana Follow Africa-Press
