The Electoral Commission (EC) has met 65% of its 15 million target after registering 9,860,164 applicants countrywide as of July 20, 2020.
The EC disclosed this yesterday when the Deputy Chairperson of the commission in charge of Operations, Samuel Tettey, addressed the media during its latest update session on the registration exercise.
More Kits
He said the deployment of more kits to the registration centres increased the number of mobile teams and backups and immediate replacement of faulty ones.
Filed Challenge Cases
The commission, he said, had noticed that the number of filed challenge cases was on the increase, adding that “even though the raw number of filed cases rose from 4,144 in phase 2 to 6,007, the percentage decreased from 0.19% to 0.16%, respectively. We encourage the use of due process to resolve the registration of all perceived or known unqualified persons.”
Causes of Violence
The commission has noted the bussing of applicants to areas they do not reside by political parties is the reason for violence in some cases.
“It is important to say that the alleged bussing of applicants from elsewhere to register in electoral areas that these applicants do not reside or hail from is one of the underlying causes of the violence we are experiencing at registration centres,” Mr. Tettey said.
“The political party agents are, therefore, advised to refrain from bussing applicants from one electoral area to the other since it is a grave source of conflict,” he added.
Police Duty
He, therefore, called on the police to decisively deal with the perpetrators and those who sponsored such violent act according to the laws of the country to serve as a deterrent to others.
He said politicians had a huge stake in the peaceful conduct of elections and must also recognize themselves as important stakeholders for peace to prevail before, during and after the elections.
According to him, the EC does not have a hand in ensuring security at the various registration centres even though it needs to collaborate with security agencies, especially the police, to ensure that registration goes on smoothly at the centres.
“We at the EC cannot accept criticisms by some groups or individuals who have been blaming us for security lapses at few registration centres,” he said, stressing that the entire registration exercise has been very peaceful except in a few cases where pockets of violence have occurred.
“We can confidently say about 98% of the exercise has been very peaceful,” Mr. Tettey added.
Mr. Tettey said, “It is a crime to physically prevent anybody from registering if one suspects he or she is ineligible to register,” stressing that an agent after suspecting the eligibility of an applicant will only have to fill a challenge form to question the applicant’s eligibility.
He said the EC would continue to publicly announce provisional figures to ensure transparency in the registration exercise.
EC Boss
The Chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa, for her part, said in line with EC’s policy of having public confidence and trust in the integrity, neutrality and transparency of the electoral process, the commission had terminated the appointment of some registration officials who had violated the rules and regulations and the Code of Conduct for electoral officials.
“The commission would not shield any official who goes contrary to the rules and regulations in respect of the electoral process,” she said.
She said the concerns by many that there had been overcrowding at registrations centres in the cities had systematically been solved.
She said the commission remains resolute and not complacent in enforcing safety protocols at all the registration centres.
By Thomas Fosu