The chairperson of the Electoral Commission Mrs. Jean Mensah has emphasized the EC’s commitment in ensuring transparency in the 2020 voter registration exercise scheduled to begin Tuesday June 30.
In a press conference ahead of the scheduled exercise, the chairperson noted that the electoral commission has fulfilled all necessary criteria required in ensuring transparency in any new voter registration exercise.
“Over the years a number of mechanism have been built into our processes to tighten the lose screws and to ensure transparency and accountability from the registration of voters to the declaration of results, for the purposes of this exercise our focus on transparency embedded into our registration process “
She said in the Commission has followed the laid down constitutional provision ahead of the compilation of voters register exercise by providing all registered political parties with a 21 day notice of its intent to compile or update the voters register, in order to afford the political parties train and assign agents to the various registration centers.
Madam Jean Mensah added that the monitoring roles by the various political parties during the registration process, would allow any party set up its own system to track and record the number of applicants who have been registered across the nation.
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Mrs. Jean Mensah in the address expressed delight with the number of observer groups thaf have shown interest in monitoring the process, this she believes could further strengthen the process.
The Electoral Commission (EC) was given the green light by the Supreme Court to compile a new voters’ register for the 2020 general elections last Thursday.
The Supreme Court in its ruling on, June, 25, 2020 “ordered that all stakeholders and the Ghanaian eligible voters are directed to comply with Articles 42 and 45 of the Constitution” regarding the compilation of a new register of voters by the Commission.
The Court presided over by the Chief Justice, Justice Yaw Anim said the EC as an election body was independent and its action can only be directed by the court if it goes against the law.
The Court’s verdict discarded the case of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and private citizen Mark Takyi-Banson, who had prayed the court to allow for the inclusion of the existing voter card requirement for the compilation of a new voter aside from the Ghana card and passport.
Source: Joseph Kobina Amuah
