In a post-mortem analysis of the Limited Biometric Voter Registration exercise, the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has expressed fears that some eligible voters may have illegally registered more than once.
NPP's Director of Elections, Martin Agyei Korsah said, those who had misplaced their voter ID cards could have participated in a registration exercise that was not meant for them.
The Limited Biometric Voter Registration Exercise which ended Sunday, April 8 was only limited to persons who were registering to vote for the first time since they turned 18 years.
According to the Electoral Commission (EC), at least 1 million new voters were registered during the 11-day exercise.
On the panel to discuss matters arising from the exercise on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Tuesday were the Director of Elections for the governing National Democratic Party (NDC), Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, Martin Korsah and an EC Director of Elections Samuel Tettey Martin.
Photo:[L-R] Director of Elections for the governing NDC, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, the NPP Director of Elections, Martin Agyei Korsah and an EC official, Samuel Tettey Martin.
In his appraisal, Mr. Korsah blamed the Commission for the possibility of the malpractice of multiple registrations.
“I can tell you instances where some people in their effort to get re-issued cards went and re-registered and now they have added themselves to the multiple registrations that we have,” Korsah said.
The NPP says the Commission did not educate the public well enough to distinguish between the process of replacing a voter ID and registering for the first time.
For card replacement, the EC directed that a person pays ¢5 to the Ghana Commercial Bank and use the receipt to request for a new card at the District Office of the EC.
"This [process of card replacement] for me has not been properly handled. We were not informed even as parties that the EC wanted to do this at this time", Martin Korsah said.
According to the NDC Director of Elections, this process was not discussed at Inter-Party Advisory Committe (IPAC) where political parties meet to dialogue.
Mr. Ampofo said if the EC had informed the political parties at IPAC, it would have passed on this information to party agents to educate the public.
But the information came after the Limited Biometric Voter Registration exercise had started taking political parties by surprise.
This means of communication could have confused voters, the NPP Mr. Korsah indicated.
Mr. Ampofo criticized the EC for directing persons seeking a replacement to pay through the bank, which he considered cumbersome and inconveniencing.
But Mr. Ampofo speaking to myjoyonline.com dismissed the NPP fears for multiple registrations.
“There is no way people would have done multiple registrations. Everywhere you go the EC officials would ask you if you are registering for the first time” he explained.
Responding to the concerns raised, EC Director of Elections Samuel Martin explained that they resorted to using the banks because the Commission had noticed that monies paid at the District were not been properly accounted for.
Mr. Martin explained that a person who had misplaced a voter ID did not need to participate in the exercise because the person could do so at any time.
Source: myjoyonline.com
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