EC, political parties commit to address challenges with voters’ register

The Electoral Commission (EC) and various political parties have agreed to work together to address the challenges related to the Provisional Voters' Register ahead of the 2024 General Election.During an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting convened by the EC in Accra on Tuesday, both the Commission and the political parties acknowledged that ensuring a clean voters' register was a collective responsibility, and thus, all stakeholders must contribute to make the register more robust.For the first time in IPAC's history, the media, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the diplomatic community were permitted to participate as observers in the meeting, which was also broadcast live to the public.The EC said the development, which would be repeated at all subsequent IPAC meetings, formed part of measures to deepen transparency and build trust ahead of the December 7 polls.The meeting extensively addressed the challenges associated with the Provisional Voters' Register and the measures the Com mission was implementing to strengthen its integrity.Prior to the meeting, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) raised concerns about the register's credibility and called for an independent forensic audit to ensure its integrity.At the begging of the meeting, the EC made an extensive presentation on the measures it had taken to address all identifiable discrepancies in the voters' register.Mrs Jean Mensa, Chairperson, EC, said the exhibition exercise conducted by the Commission provided an opportunity for all stakeholders to flag errors in the register, among other legal remedies provided in the electoral law to address discrepancies in the draft register.She said the Commission had resolved the discrepancies that were identified in the register during the exhibition exercise.Mrs. Mensa said that calls for a forensic audit of the voters' register were premature, emphasising that the Commission had not yet exhausted all available processes to clean and rectify the register.'The voters' register is a draft not the final register. It is not perfect and not final,' she said, adding that 'the register today is more accurate than what was exhibited and presented to the political parties in August this year.'Mrs. Mensa announced that the Commission would soon make the provisional voters' register available online to enable registered voters to verify their details at no cost.She also assured the political parties that the Commission would furnish them with an updated Provisional Voters' Register in the 'next week or two' for further review before the certification of the register.Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, Director of Elections for the NDC, reaffirmed the party's demand for a forensic audit of the EC's Information Technology systems to enhance confidence in the voters' register.'It would only take forensic audit of the I.T. systems of the EC to establish the footprints of exactly where the illegal voter transfers took place,' he said.Mr Boamah said it was 'not strategic' for the NDC to provide the EC with the full data backing its claims, adding that the party would meet to decide on the next line of action after the meeting.Mr. Peter Mac Manu, Director of Elections for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Campaign Team, expressed the party's strong belief in the Electoral Commission's methods, describing them as the 'best' legally prescribed approach to address discrepancies in the voters' register.Mr. Justin Kodua Frimpong, NPP General Secretary, labelled the calls for a forensic audit as 'needless' and challenged the NDC to provide comprehensive data supporting their claims for review.While supporting calls for collective input to clean the register, some of the political parties appealed to the EC to plan for voters in underserved communities who may not be able to participate in the online voters' exhibition exercise.Data provided by the EC indicated that as of Monday, September 30, 2024, the total number of registered voters stood at 18, 772,795, comprising 9,690,173 males, and 9,082,622 females .The total number of first-time voters stood at 708, 282.Source: Ghana News Agency