Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, has rejected claims in some quarters that the Commission was bent on disenfranchising eligible voters.
Addressing the press on Monday, Madam Jean Mensa asserted that the claims are false adding that it is not interest of the EC to disenfranchise voters.
“We have heard allegations from various quarters that the Commission is seeking to disenfranchise eligible voters. This is false. It is not in our interest to disenfranchise any eligible voter. In fact, we take pride in the fact that we have second highest number of registered voters in the whole of Africa with the exception of Cape Verde which has a national population of about 600,000- and a voting population of 55.33%,” the EC boss said.
“Per the 2021 census figures, Ghana boasts of a voters register which captures 55% of the national population. i.e.17,027,000 out of a national population of 31 million. We pride ourselves that our Voters Register population meets international best practice for the registration of voters.
“We are aware that the Commission’s policy to use its 268 district offices as the registration centres has attracted criticism from some sections of the society. As you may be aware, the Commission conducted a full-blown registration exercise in some 33,000 polling stations throughout the country,” she added;
According to her, It is important to note that the exercise is an update of the register adding “It is to allow persons who have obtained the age of 18 years and above since 2020 and others who had not previously registered the opportunity to register to vote. It is not a full-blown registration”.
“It is important to note that this will not be the only registration exercise before the 2024 elections. In line with our plans to promote an inclusive participatory registration process, we plan to institute continuous registration in all our district offices nationwide in 2024 for a considerable length of time. In addition to that, we will identify difficult-to-access areas and undertake a mop up registration exercise in those areas. Of course, we will rely on data from the Ghana Statistical Service and our own database to determine areas where the registration figures are low, due to inaccessibility to our district offices,” Madam Jean Mensa added.
She assured Ghanaians that the EC has their best interest at heart.
“ We do not intend to disenfranchise eligible voters. It is in our interest to register them all. However, our present circumstances made it impossible to conduct registration on an electoral area basis. As you are all aware, the Commission prepared a draft CI for continuous registration in all district offices nationwide. It was for a sustained long-term basis. Indeed, had the CI passed we would have had some six (6) months to register voters at any time of their choice,” she further assured.
In this regard our 2023 budget and workplan were prepared along these lines. Our 2023 workplan and budget is based on a continuous voters’ registration exercise in our district offices. We did not factor registration on electoral area basis in our 2023 budget and workplan. Hence our adoption of this method which is also in line with our long-term plan and vision. You are all aware that our budget and workplan is approved by Parliament. We are enjoined by law to discuss our budget and work plan with the Special Budget Committee of Parliament prior to approval so both are well known to them. As mentioned, our plan for 2024 is to undertake a mop-up registration exercise in difficult-to-access areas after our continuous registration in our district offices. Those who are unable to register in this ongoing exercise will have the opportunity to do so next year.