A Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission(EC), Dr. Bossman Asare has told the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) that the Commission does not need its consent or opinion before a new voters register can be compiled.
The main opposition NDC has rejected the proposal by the Electoral Commission to compile a new voters register for the 2020 elections.
The Electoral Commission has served notice a new voters’ register will be compiled ahead of the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.
The Electoral Management Body is currently inspecting offices of political parties, according to a press statement after an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting Wednesday.
The call for a new voters’ roll was made ahead of the 2016 elections which culminated in a series of demonstrations by the Let My Vote Count Alliance. However, due to financial constraints the EC failed to heed the call.
After meeting stakeholders over the issue, the EC said a new register will be used for the next general elections.
But former Acting Director of Elections of the NDC Bede-Zieding has said the party will resist any attempt by the EC to push the idea of a new register since there is not enough grounds for the creation of a new one.
“The NDC does not endorse the proposal to develop a new voter register to replace the existing new. We do not support the compilation of a new voter register because there is not enough grounds for it.
“The law says for a new register to be created it should be on the basis of a census and there is no new census. Secondly, the law says the existing register should have been 10 years or more before a new one can be done and the current one will be 10 years in 2020 so there is no basis for a new one,” he said on Starr FM.
But speaking on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa FM Thursday, Dr. Bossman Asare stated that no political party’s view can hold sway over the EC’s decision to compile a new voters register.
“For the Electoral Commission, there are certain issues that we can discuss with the political party before we take a final decision but for others, we don’t need their input. Also, it doesn’t mean that once we discuss with the political parties what they say is final, we may discuss issues with them only for purposes of giving them information. Certain actions are taken purely on management decisions. The constitution has clearly defined our functions if the EC wants to compile new voters register we don’t need the consent or otherwise of the political parties before we do so. Sometimes it’s just nice that the EC discusses some of these issues with the political parties but their views are never binding on the EC,” He told host Kwaku Owusu Adjei.
Source: kasapafmonline.com
