Flashback: Current voters' register bloated by 1.3 million –UK Gov’t

 
It has emerged that the current voter’s register which is currently a subject of national debate, is bloated by some 1.3 million votes.
The concern was raised by the UK government before the 2016 general elections in a correspondence between the office of the then UK Prime Minister, James Cameron, and Some Ghanaians in the UK, who had petitioned the British Government over questionable Voter’s Register.  The concerned Ghanaians had submitted a petition to the Prime Minister on 6th November 2015, after a peaceful demonstration at the forecourt 10 Downing Street.
“We are fully aware of the concerns regarding the electoral register. We note that the average population percentage in Ghana of those eligible to vote is approximately 52%, which is 10% higher than the continental average,” the UK government said in response to the petition sent by the concerned Ghanaians in the UK. The response letter was signed by one Ms. Morley, who was the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Desk Officer for Ghana.
The British Government’s assessment was based on a voter population of 13,628,817, which was the total number of registered voters recorded by Ghana’s electoral commission for 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections.
The 10% equates to 1,362,882 which the British government claims are above the continental average.
The EC has come under relentless attack from the main opposition party, the NDC and some Civil Society Groups over its decision to use a   new Biometric Voter Management System (BVMS) ahead of the 2010 election. They argue that the current register is credible enough and that there is no need to change it.
However, the EC has countered, saying the country will save GHC170 million with the acquisition of the new Biometric Voter Management System (BVMS).
According to the EC, explained that the total cost of maintaining the old Biometric System is $74, 364, 500 while the total cost for the new BVMS system is estimated at $56,000,000. These include Biometric Voter Registration Kits (BVR) kits and the Biometric Verification Devices (BVD).
Giving a further breakdown of the cost of the entire process, it said the total cost of using the old BVR system for the 2020 election is $38, 692,500.00. This includes; the cost of refurbishment of some BVR kits used in 2016 and the acquisition of new ones. The number of kits used in the 2016 registration was 5,500 and the number of kits that were refurbishable was 1,500 and the unit cost of refurbishment was $3500, pegging the total cost of refurbishment at $5,250,000. The EC further posits that the nation also needs an additional 6500 kits at a unit cost of $5145, pegging the total cost of additional kits at 33,442,500.
 
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com