Political parties and the Electoral Commission (EC) have agreed on the modalities for the mop-up voter registration exercise scheduled for August 1 to August 3.
The mop-up exercise is meant to give opportunity to persons who turned 18 years after the recent limited voter registration and those who could not register previously to have their names captured in the poll book.
At an Inter-party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held in Accra yesterday, it came to light that the registration exercise would be carried out in all the 268 district offices of the EC, 26 public universities, and 41 prison establishments.
The political parties that were present at the meeting were the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC).
The NPP was represented by a former National Chairman of the party, Peter Mac Manu, while the Deputy Director of Elections of the NDC, Dr Tanko Rashid Computer, represented his party.
No change in criteria
The Director of Training at the EC, Dr Serebour Quaicoe, told the Daily Graphic that the political parties were taken through the processes of conducting the mop-up registration exercise, with no major concerns from the various parties.
“We made them understand that the mop-up registration is for people who have turned 18 after the limited registration exercise, Ghanaians who were not in the country at the time of the registration, and those who were in the country but could not register,” he said.
He added that the same criteria were used for the previous voter registration exercises, including the person being a Ghanaian, be 18 years and of a sound mind. “The same procedure, the same qualification, the same proof of identity will be required of the prospective registrants,” he added.
Endorsement
Mr Mac Manu said the NPP was satisfied with the modalities the EC had laid down for the conduct of the mop-up registration. “It was an open and transparent process, so the EC is being professional,” he said.
He said the party would get their members to check their names during the exhibition of the voters’ register. “The exhibition of the voters’ register is extremely important because it is after this exercise that the final register will be put for the election. If we get the exhibition right, the final register will be credible and it makes the election day activities seamless,” he said.
For his part, Dr Tanko said the modalities for the mop-up registration sat well with the NDC and the other parties. He said the party would cooperate with the EC and other stakeholders to ensure the success of the registration exercise.
Concerns
However, he said the NDC raised issues with the figures the EC presented to Parliament as being the total Ghanaians on the poll book. “We realised that the figures are not adding up. We gave the EC copious examples from their website and if you put the number of people registered in 2020 together with those registered during the limited voter registration in 2023 and the recent registration of 2024 and compare with what was presented to Parliament, there is a shortfall of about 26,000,” he said.
Dr Tanko said the EC had agreed to let its information technology department work on the figures and provide updates in the next IPAC meeting. He said the party also raised concerns about some missing names in the voters’ register.
“The EC told us that all those names had been brought back to the register and they were encouraging such people to use the exhibition period to check if those names were really there,” he added.
